Visit arranged to settle 'comfort women' row

Japan's foreign minister will visit Seoul on Monday to meet his South Korean counterpart for talks aimed at an early resolution to a row over comfort women, as those forced to work in Japan's wartime military brothels are euphemistically known.

South Korea's foreign ministry announced the visit on Friday after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to make the trip to Seoul.

The ministry said Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se would discuss topics of mutual interest, including comfort women.