South Korean President Moon Jae-in softened criticism of Japan in a speech marking the anniversary of the end of World War II, fueling hopes that the two key U.S. allies may seek to ease their recent feud.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent an offering to a controversial Tokyo war shrine Thursday, in an indication that he would avoid a more provocative personal visit. Abe and Emperor Naruhito were set to speak later in the day at a ceremony honoring the war dead, including the new emperor’s first official remarks on the occasion.

Both capitals were being watched closely for clues on whether two of Asia’s largest economies will ratchet up or calm the hostility that has built up over recent months. Disputes over whether Japan has sufficiently atoned for its 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula sit at the heart of the feud, with South Korean efforts to secure more compensation for individual victims enraging Tokyo.

“Examining the past doesn’t mean holding onto the past, but taking a step from the past toward the future,” Moon said at a ceremony celebrating the end of Japanese occupation. “We ask Japan to reflect on the misfortune it caused for neighboring countries, and to lead the peace and prosperity of East Asia together.”

The politically charged anniversary falls less than two weeks after Abe’s cabinet approved the unprecedented step of removing South Korea from a listed of trusted export destinations, prompting Seoul to say it would respond in kind. While Japan says the move was based on national security concerns, Moon has denounced it as economic retaliation over court rulings in favor of forced labor claims.

The disagreement has consequences for U.S. efforts to fortify its Asian security network against threats from China and North Korea, with South Korean officials saying they might withdraw from a bilateral agreement with Japan on the exchange of military information. U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed frustration with the dispute, saying last week the two sides “got to get along because it puts us in a very bad position.”

In Tokyo, Naruhito was also expected to deliver his first war-end speech since ascending the throne in May after the abdication of his father. Former Emperor Akihito included a mention of “deep remorse” in his speech every year since the 70th anniversary of his own father Hirohito’s acceptance of the Allies’ terms of surrender on Aug. 15, 1945.

By contrast, Abe has sought to put the old disputes in the past, saying in 2015 that future generations couldn’t be expected to keep apologizing. He has removed references to the destruction wrought by Japan during the war from his own annual speech, and last year omitted a customary reference to Japan being a country that “abhors war.”

The day is also marked at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to the memory of Japan’s war dead and seen in China and South Korea as a symbol of its past militarism because 14 Class A war criminals are memorialized there. Abe has not paid respects at the shrine in person since 2013, but a group of lawmakers makes a regular pilgrimage.

In one possible positive sign for ties, Japan granted the first export license to South Korea last week under a new stricter monitoring system. The move lessened fears the clampdown could halt supplies of essential materials to some of the world’s largest technology firms.

For his part, Moon stayed away from the Wednesday unveiling of a new statue honoring so-called comfort women, who were trafficked to Japanese Imperial Army brothels across Asia before and during the war, instead opting to send a message. Payments to victims and their surviving relatives from funds Japan provided to a foundation that South Korea later disbanded have also been allowed to re-start after a hiatus, Japan’s Asahi newspaper reported earlier this week.

Senior foreign ministry officials from the two countries may meet as soon as this week to seek a way out of the standoff, according to South Korean and Japanese media.

Yet public anger continues to simmer in South Korea. A coalition of more than 750 civic groups said it hoped to muster tens of thousands of demonstrators for a “No Abe Action” rally in central Seoul.

Another wild card is North Korea, where leader Kim Jong Un has resumed missile launches in recent weeks. The regime tends to mark the end of the war with statements celebrating founder Kim Il Sung’s contributions to the defeat of the Japanese, rather than displays of modern military might.