Japan, SKorean envoys, execs discuss ways to cool tensions

TOKYO – Officials and business leaders from Japan and South Korea have met in Tokyo seeking to cool a flare up in tensions between the two U.S. allies.

The head of Japan’s powerful Keidanren business group, Hiroaki Nakanishi, said Friday that the two sides have a track record of handling problems by “sharing wisdom.”

He said that it was important to have “mutual trust and understanding” and to keep exchanging views.

His South Korean counterpart said he was hoping for a breakthrough in the impasse that stems from antagonisms left over from before World War II.

Japanese and South Korean diplomats also met to discuss broad issues, including a plan by Seoul to scrap an intelligence-sharing agreement.

Relations are at their worst in decades amid disputes over trade and wartime history.