South Korea and the United States held their first director-general-level meeting to discuss ways to counter North Korea's illicit cyber activities, suspected to be a source of funding for its nuclear and missile development programs.

According to the foreign ministry on Wednesday, the allies' working group on countering the North's cyber threats held its inaugural meeting in Washington on Tuesday.

The meeting is a follow-up to an agreement made during a summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden in May, in which the allies committed to enhancing bilateral cooperation on the issue.

Led by Seoul's deputy nuclear envoy Lee Tae-woo and his U.S. counterpart Jung Pak, the two sides agreed to coordinate efforts to block the North's revenue generating stream via overseas IT workers and cryptocurrency hacking.

The involved parties plan to hold a second meeting for continued discussions in Seoul within the year.