President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have held a brief one-on-one meeting, agreeing on the need to improve strained Seoul-Tokyo relations.

Presidential spokesperson Ko Min-jung told reporters Monday that Moon and Abe met for eleven minutes on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) Plus Three meeting in Thailand on Monday.

Ko said the two leaders reaffirmed South Korea-Japan relations are important and that pending issues must be resolved through dialogue.

The spokesperson also cited Moon as suggesting higher-level talks with Japan. Abe is said to have called for mobilizing all possible options to resolve issues between the two sides. 

The brief exchange occurred as the president was speaking with ASEAN leaders at the summit venue. Moon positioned himself next to Abe as he entered the forum and engaged the Japanese leader.

Bilateral relations between the two East Asian neighbors have hit the lowest point in decades after South Korean Supreme Court rulings last year ordered Japanese firms to compensate wartime forced labor victims in South Korea. 

Following Japan’s trade retaliation to the rulings this year, South Korea announced its decision not to renew their General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA.

The intel-sharing pact, under which the two sides exchanged key military intelligence regarding North Korean missile threats, officially expires in 19 days.

Moon and Abe's encounter was the first in 13 months, since their full-fledged summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September last year.

It also comes on he heels of a letter Moon sent to Abe via Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon when he attended the enthronement ceremony for new Japanese Emperor Naruhito last month.