South Korea and the U.S. have agreed to discuss the controversial investor-state dispute (ISD) provision in their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) early next month.

The two sides reached the agreement during a joint consultative committee on the FTA in Washington on Wednesday.

The government had earlier announced that it would seek to readdress the ISD provision with the U.S. within 90 days of the FTA’s effectuation.

A Trade Ministry official said that next month’s meeting will focus on clarifying the ISD provision and addressing problems that have been raised regarding the provision.

Also on Wednesday, trade officials of the two nations discussed ways to operate the joint consultative committee and dispute settlement rules as well as agendas for the committee’s subcommittees.