South Korea and Japan have toned down the rhetoric but show little sign of compromise in a bitter political and economic dispute as their foreign ministers prepare to meet in China this week.
Relations between the two neighbors are at their worst in years, with a trade row rooted in a decades-old dispute over compensation for Koreans forced to work during Japan's colonial rule of South Korea.
Foreign ministers Taro Kono, Kang Kyung-wha of South Korea and Wang Yi of China will have trilateral meetings in Beijing from Tuesday evening to Thursday.