Amid tensions between South Korea and Japan over a memorial event at Japan’s Sado mines, the two countries’ foreign ministers are expected to meet on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Italy on Tuesday.

Seoul and Tokyo are said to have agreed for their ministers to meet and are currently coordinating details, including the meeting’s format.  

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, are likely to exchange views on the Sado mines memorial event when they meet. 

Attention is being drawn to whether Cho will reiterate to Iwaya the South Korean foreign ministry’s regrets, made public earlier in the day, about the attitude Tokyo showed when negotiating details for the memorial. 

Some observers believe Cho will convey to Iwaya the message that the memorial issue must not have a negative impact on overall Seoul-Tokyo relations. 

Earlier in the day, the foreign ministry said its official had expressed Seoul’s regret over the memorial to the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Monday, while also expressing hope that the two sides will communicate closely so that the matter does not develop further into an unnecessary conflict.