Senior Japanese and South Korean officials failed to bridge differences in talks Thursday over the thorny issue of compensation by Japanese firms for wartime labor.

In the working-level consultations in Seoul, Kenji Kanasugi, director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry told reporters he called again for measures from the South Korean side to ensure that accused companies are not harmed.

He also said he requested anew that intergovernmental talks be held based on an agreement attached to a 1965 treaty that established diplomatic ties between the two countries.