S. Korea, Japan push to boost economic ties after 'comfort women' deal

TOKYO, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Japan held high-level economic talks Tuesday in an effort to boost their bilateral ties following a breakthrough deal on Japan's wartime sexual slavery of Korean women. Both sides called for a new chapter in their relations, saying they hope to expand their economic cooperation in the wake of the Dec. 28 agreement. "Japan-South Korea relations are entering into a new era, and we are establishing new relations between Japan and South Korea," Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Yasumasa Nagamine said at the opening of the talks. "It's timely to hold economic talks with this positive momentum. I'm happy to have this opportunity to discuss ways to strengthen our bilateral economic ties and resolve the issues in front of us." South Korea's chief delegate, Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Tae-ho, said their talks would help raise bilateral economic relations to a new level. "Unfortunately, there was a decrease in the exchange of goods and people between our two countries in the past several years," he noted. Japan has demanded South Korea lift its ban on imports of fishery products from eight Japanese prefectures near the site of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. Meanwhile, South Korea has sought Japan's cooperation in gaining entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement to which Tokyo is a party. Tuesday's talks were the first high-level consultations between the two countries since they reached the deal to resolve the issue of Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II. The talks, launched in 1999, were held for the 14th time.