Japan, South Korea agree to hold summit in Dec

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-Wha leaves the Foreign Ministry to attend G20 foreign ministers meeting held in the central Japanese city of Nagoya, in Seoul, South Korea.(Photo by REUTERS)

Japan and South Korea have agreed to hold a summit next month, a Japanese foreign ministry official said on Saturday, returning to contentious talks about their painful wartime past that have put a deep strain on relations in recent months.

Neither side has shown any sign of changing their stance on the issue - which dates back to Japan's colonization of the Korean peninsula before and during World War Two.

The foreign ministry official made the comments after Japan's foreign minister met with his South Korean counterpart at a Group of 20 (G20) meeting in the central Japanese city of Nagoya.