Seoul: The Japanese and South Korean government resumed their security dialogue on Monday, after about five years of suspension due to deteriorated bilateral relations.

Foreign and defense officials from the two countries met in Seoul on the day and discussed ways to deal with North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.

The bilateral security dialogue last took place in March 2018, and was suspended after the bilateral relationship worsened, including over an incident in which a South Korean warship directed its fire-control radar at a Japanese Self-Defense Forces plane in December 2018.

In March this year, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Moon Suk-yeol agreed to resume the security dialogue at an early date.

At a press conference in Tokyo on Monday, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said, ” As part of efforts to restore a healthy Japan-South Korea relationship, our defense authorities will continue to communicate closely.”

The day’s meeting was joined by Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Atsushi Ando, deputy director-general for international affairs at the Defense Ministry’s Defense Policy Bureau.

From South Korea, Seo Min-jung, director-general for Asia and Pacific affairs at the Foreign Ministry, and Woo Kyoung-Suk, deputy director-general for international policy at the Defense Ministry, participated in the meeting.

The participants exchanged views on potential cooperation between the two countries and among the two plus the United States, including in the Indo-Pacific region, according to both governments’ announcements.

They are also believed to have had talks on the Japan-South Korea military intelligence-sharing pact, under which operations have been normalized, while covering the radar incident.

JIJI Press