South Korea and Japan resumed director-general-level dialogue to discuss pending bilateral issues, including the compensation of Korean forced labor victims and Japan's trade restrictions.

Kim Jung-han, director-general for Asia and Pacific affairs at the South Korean Foreign Ministry, and his Japanese counterpart, Shigeki Takizaki, met in Seoul Thursday morning.

It was the first of such talks since Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took office last month.

The two sides reportedly discussed the South Korean top court ruling in 2018 that ordered a Japanese firm to compensate forced labor victims and Japan's export curbs imposed last year in apparent retaliation.

Respecting the judiciary's ruling, Seoul has expressed willingness to resolve the issue through dialogue, but Tokyo claims the ruling goes against the 1965 bilateral treaty that normalized relations and is in violation of international laws.

Another likely agenda item at the meeting is a trilateral summit with China which Seoul is pushing to host this year as the chair nation, and Tokyo's planned release of radioactive water from its disabled Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.

The previous face-to-face meeting was held in Seoul in February, followed by virtual talks in June.