All national dailies reported that Foreign Minister Hayashi and his ROK counterpart Park held talks in Phnom Penh yesterday and agreed to expedite discussions to resolve the outstanding history issues with the goal of achieving mutual reconciliation at an early date.

The Japanese official reportedly protested the maritime research and military drills conducted by the South Korean military near the disputed Liancourt Rocks last month. The two sides agreed to deepen bilateral and trilateral coordination with Washington to deal with North Korea’s nuclear and missile development. The issue of Taiwan was reportedly not taken up during the 30-minute session.

In a related development, NHK reported that a group of ten South Korean parliamentarians met with Japanese Diet members in Tokyo on Thursday and agreed to do their utmost to improve bilateral ties. They pledged mutual efforts for rapid reconciliation as this year marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of both countries’ parliamentary leagues on bilateral friendship and cooperation. The politicians agreed to arrange a joint meeting of their parliamentary leagues in Seoul this fall for the first time in three years.