The chair of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs has urged President Donald Trump to actively mediate a dispute between the U.S.' two major Asian allies at the United Nations General Assembly session.

Eliot Engel (D-NY) on Friday sent a letter to Trump calling on the U.S. to play a strong leadership role in addressing escalating tensions between South Korea and Japan.

In the letter, the senior congressperson stressed the importance of U.S. leadership in bringing the two sides together, saying that the dispute has spilled over into issues that directly impact U.S. national security and economic interests.

Engel said that it is a time that the U.S., Japan and South Korea should be working together to address regional security threats.

He said such threats range from North Korea’s provocative ballistic missile tests to Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, adding that the ongoing dispute between Tokyo and Seoul undermines shared interests in a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. 

The committee chief then urged the Trump administration to provide a platform for both countries to resolve their differences.