The defense ministers of Japan and South Korea began talks in Bangkok on Sunday, less than a week before the expiry of their military intelligence-sharing pact, amid few signs of progress in efforts to improve bilateral ties.

In the first meeting between the two Asian neighbors' defense chiefs since October last year, Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono is expected to urge his South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong Doo to reverse Seoul's decision to allow the pact to expire Saturday.

The General Security of Military Information Agreement, also known as GSOMIA, reached in 2016, is mainly aimed at countering the North Korean nuclear and missile threat.

Japan has repeatedly asked South Korea to renew the accord, as Tokyo is also concerned about a possible weakening of trilateral security cooperation with the United States.

But Seoul insists it will only reconsider its August decision to scrap the agreement if Tokyo first reverses its move earlier this year to tighten controls on exports of some materials needed by South Korean manufacturers of semiconductors and display panels.

A three-way meeting among Kono, Jeong and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is also set to take place on Sunday in Bangkok on the sidelines of the annual ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus, according to Japanese officials.

Esper visited South Korea before traveling to the Thai capital in an attempt to persuade Seoul to renew the intelligence-sharing pact.

But South Korean President Moon Jae In told Esper on Friday that it is "difficult" for Seoul to share military intelligence with Japan, while promising to make continued efforts toward security cooperation among the three countries.

Japan-South Korea ties, which have long been haunted by wartime history, sunk to their lowest level in years in October last year when South Korea's top court ordered a Japanese steelmaker to pay compensation for forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, the relationship between Japanese and South Korean defense authorities severely deteriorated last December when the South Korean navy allegedly locked its fire-control radar on a Japanese Self-Defense Forces patrol plane.

Before returning to Japan on Tuesday, Kono plans to also meet bilaterally with Esper and defense ministers from other countries.

The ADMM-Plus meeting involves the defense chiefs from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its eight regional partners -- Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States.

Kyodo