Visiting South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-moon and his Japanese counterpart agreed on Sunday that their two countries and the U.S. would boost cooperation to persuade North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons development program.

In Tokyo, Ban and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi also reiterated their call for the North to scrap its nuclear program in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

To that end, the South Korean official called for an early launch of a working group meeting in line with the results of the second six-nation talks in Beijing.

Kawaguchi asked for South Korea's continued support to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korea.

The two high officials also exchanged views on bilateral issues, including the ongoing dispute over the Dokdo islets.

Earlier this year, tensions between South Korea and Japan escalated as the Korean government enacted a plan to issue stamps of the disputed islets, which have been claimed as sovereign territory by both countries.

The islands, known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, is now under control by the Korean government.