South Korea and Japan resumed strategic dialogue between their vice foreign ministers for the first time in nine years on Thursday.

The 14th bilateral strategic talks were held in Seoul between first vice foreign minister Chang Ho-jin and his Japanese counterpart, Masataka Okano.

The dialogue was launched in 2005 with an aim for the two countries to consult on a range of regional and global issues from a mid- to long-term perspective.

It had been halted since after 2014 amid frayed relations over colonial-era disputes, before the two sides began to restore ties following Seoul's plan to internally compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor in March.

The agenda for Thursday’s meeting was expected to include ways to cooperate strategically to address a range of regional and global challenges, including North Korea.