The foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea may meet this week to try to reach a settlement on the wartime labor issue, which has strained ties between their countries.

Arrangements are being made for Japan's Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa to meet his South Korean counterpart Park Jin on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Hayashi will be in Germany starting on Friday.

Hayashi and Park last met in person in September. Hayashi has said that the two countries need to communicate closely with each other in order to put bilateral ties on solid footing.

Senior diplomats from the two sides met in Washington on Monday to discuss the wartime labor issue. A meeting between Hayashi and Park would bring the talks to a higher political level.

South Korea's government is now considering a plan aimed at resolving the issue. The plan involves having a public foundation offer payments to the plaintiffs in the wartime labor lawsuits. The public foundation would be used instead of the Japanese companies that have been ordered by South Korea's Supreme Court to compensate the plaintiffs. South Korea is also asking Japan to respond in good faith.

Japanese government officials are reportedly thinking of underscoring a statement made by a Japanese prime minister in the past. He expressed deep remorse, and extended a heartfelt apology, for Japan's colonial rule and wartime aggression.