South Korea will confer a state medal on Japan's U.N. ambassador, Koro Bessho, for his contribution to relations between the two countries.

South Korean Ambassador Oh Joon will award the Gwanghwa Medal of the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit to the Japanese envoy in a ceremony at the South's mission to the U.N. in New York on Friday, the office said.

The medal is the highest honor in the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit.

Before taking office as U.N. ambassador in June, Bessho served as Japan's top envoy to South Korea for nearly four years from October 2012 and dealt with one of the worst periods in relations between the two countries.

Years of frayed ties have been showing signs of thawing after the two sides reached a landmark agreement in late December on resolving the issue of Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women for its troops during World War II. (Yonhap)