South Korea and Japan are expected to resume high-level economic talks later this month after a hiatus of nearly eight years.

According to diplomatic sources on Sunday, the two nations have effectively agreed to hold a high-level economic meeting in Seoul later this month, with discussions underway for agenda items.

The high-level economic consultation is a council involving diverse economy-related agencies from the two nations.

First launched in 1999, the talks were held alternately on a regular basis in South Korea and Japan before being suspended after the 14th session in Tokyo in January 2016.

Japan has since postponed the talks unilaterally in protest of the installation of a statue of a girl symbolizing victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery in front of the Japanese Consulate in Busan in late 2016.

During a summit in Lithuania in July, President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to resume the economic talks within this year and reaffirmed the commitment in two follow-up summits in August and last month.