South Korea, Territorial Dispute | featured news

A festering territorial dispute between China and Japan has derailed talks for a free trade zone involving the two countries and South Korea, an adviser to China's central bank said on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday she believed Japan and South Korea were ready to tone down a row over a disputed island chain that has set two close U.S. allies at odds amid heightened regional tensions with China.

A South Korean official says the country's president has visited islets that Japan claims as its own. The move likely will deepen animosity between the rivals.