Japan, South Korea to mend ties at summit amid regional threat

TOKYO: South Korean and Japanese leaders will meet later Thursday in Tokyo in a bid to overcome disputes over history and quickly rebuild security and economic ties later, as a North Korean missile launch and encounters between Japanese and Chinese vessels in disputed waters show what's at stake for the two countries.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida invited South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a working visit following South Korea's announcement of a local fund for Korean victims of wartime forced labor that will pay compensation the South Korean court judgment has demanded from Japanese companies. The two countries hope that it could restart regular bilateral visits, after a gap of more than a decade.