President Moon Jae-in has met the leaders of five political parties amid a political stalemate over key reform bills and other pending issues.

After the closed-door meeting on Sunday which lasted for about three hours from 6 p.m. at the presidential residence, the ruling Democratic Party(DP) said that Moon proposed the resumption of a state council meeting at which significant political issues are discussed.

Moon held the inaugural council meeting with the floor leaders of the five parties in November last year and planned to do so every quarter. No follow-up meeting has taken place, however, due to ferocious political strife.

The DP said party leaders in attendance were receptive to resuming such meetings.

President Moon also stressed the need for bipartisan cooperation regarding the issues of Japanese trade restrictions against Seoul and a military information sharing deal with Japan set to expire later this month.

The president also called on the National Assembly to expand the flexible work hour system and quickly pass economy-related bills.

According to meeting participants, Moon also expressed hope that parliament will handle pending election reform bills through dialogue.

The top office said the dinner meeting was arranged by the presidential office for Moon to express his appreciation to the party leaders for paying their respects to his mother following her death late last month.

The group meeting came as Moon has reached the halfway point in his single five-year tenure and was the first gathering of party heads and the president since July 18 when they convened to discuss responses to Japan's export curbs against South Korea.