Japan new PM to send envoy to S.Korea

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's incoming prime minister will send a special envoy to Seoul, he said on Friday, to meet South Korea's president-elect, in an early attempt to mend frayed ties.

Mr Shinzo Abe will dispatch a senior official from his Liberal Democratic Party to deliver a letter to Ms Park Geun-Hye, just days after the two triumphed in their own national elections.

Relations between their countries turned icy earlier this year when a rumbling row over disputed islands blistered suddenly.

It quickly degenerated into a familiar confrontation over attitudes to shared history, with Seoul accusing Tokyo of not being contrite enough for its wartime behaviour.