Japan's new foreign minister Lin Fang is having a brief exchange with South Korean Foreign Minister Zheng Yirong during the foreign ministers' meeting of the group of seven (G7) in the UK, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on the 12th. This is the first time Lin Fangzheng has met with the South Korean foreign minister since taking office. The differences between the two sides on issues such as "comfort women" remain the same, and the conversation ended in only a few minutes. The G7 foreign ministers' meeting was recently held in the British city of Liverpool. Japan is a member of the group of seven and South Korea was invited to attend the meeting. The Japanese Foreign Ministry said that Lin Fangzheng and Zheng Yirong met for the first time at the informal dinner of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting held in the evening of the 11th local time. According to the Japanese media, the exchange was first proposed by the ROK. Japanese media reported that Lin Fang is asking the ROK to take "appropriate measures" to compensate for the forced recruitment of Korean workers and "comfort women" during the Second World War. The South Korean Foreign Ministry said late on the 12th that in response to the Japanese request, Zheng Yirong reiterated the South Korean consistent position. The two sides still have serious differences, but agreed to maintain communication. Since the South Korean court ruled at the end of 2018 that Japanese enterprises must compensate for the forced recruitment of Korean workers during World War II, South Korean Japanese relations have become tense. In January this year, a South Korean court made a judgment on the case of 12 victims of the "comfort women" system claiming compensation from the Japanese government, asking the Japanese side to compensate each plaintiff 100 million won (about 539000 yuan). This is the first time that a South Korean court has made a judgment on the claim of South Korean "comfort women" against the Japanese government. After taking up the post of Foreign Minister of Japan in November, Lin Fangzheng talked with foreign ministers of many countries by telephone, emphasizing the promotion of friendly relations. According to the South Korean media, Zheng Yirong sent a congratulatory letter to Lin Fangzheng, but there was no response. The two sides have not talked. Japan and South Korea have serious differences on historical issues such as compensation for forced recruitment of South Korean workers and "comfort women". The Japanese government claims that the relevant compensation issues have been resolved in the Japan ROK claim agreement signed when the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1965. The ROK asked Japan to face up to history and formally apologize and compensate for the issue of "comfort women". In addition, the two countries are tit for tat over the disputed territory. Last month, Kim Chang long, director of the South Korean police department, visited Dokdo, a disputed island between South Korea and Japan (called Takeshima by Japan), which triggered a strong protest from Japan. During the subsequent trilateral talks at the level of deputy foreign ministers of the United States, Japan and South Korea held in Washington, the capital of the United States, the deputy foreign ministers of the three countries were scheduled to attend the press conference together, but officials of Japan and South Korea refused to share the stage because of serious differences, leaving only the Deputy Secretary of state of the United States to face the reporters. (outlook new era)