A senior U.S. official said on Wednesday that the United States is "actively engaged" in efforts to resolve the current trade and historical row between South Korea and Japan.

David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the remark at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in response to criticism that the U.S. is not playing an active role to help resolve disputes between its two key Northeast Asian allies.

Stilwell said that the U.S. is in fact actively engaged, explaining that just because that activity may not be visible publicly doesn't mean it's not happening.

Stilwell added that he has spent a "considerable" amount of time on the issue in his two and a half months in office. He said that in a meeting with his counterparts in Bangkok last month he encouraged both sides to "take a pause and look at resolution versus continuing to express their concern."

The U.S. official assured that the U.S. will continue to work and encourage Seoul and Tokyo to look for positive solutions, stressing the importance of a trilateral alliance.