Lee Ho-hyeon, director-general for international trade policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (left), shakes hands with Iida Yoichi, director-general of the Trade Control Department at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, ahead of the seventh Korea-Japan Export Control Policy Dialogue in Tokyo. (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy)

By Song Baleun and Kim Hwaya

Korea and Japan on Dec. 16 in Tokyo agreed to promote mutual understanding and continue bilateral dialogue on export control policy in their first such talks in more than three years.

At the seventh Korea-Japan Export Control Policy Dialogue, a director-general-level meeting held at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Seoul was led by Lee Ho-hyeon, director-general for international trade policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Tokyo by Yoichi Iida, director-general of the Trade Control Department at the Japanese ministry.

Starting at 10 a.m. and scheduled to end at 5 p.m., the talks went on until 8:15 p.m. amid a cordial atmosphere.

In a news briefing after the meeting, Lee said, "(Through this meeting), Korea and Japan shared the perception of the need to pursue effective export controls under each country's responsibility and discretion given the international security environment."

"Both sides agreed to update each other on the status of improvements in each other's export control system and its implementation as well as continue dialogue on export control policy and communication that can help resolve current issues," he said, adding that Seoul will host the eighth round of such talks "in the near future."

In a separate news conference, Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said, "We cannot comment on the possibility of lifting restrictions at this time but dialogue itself constitutes progress," stressing the prospect of more talks on Japan's export controls on Korea.

brigtsong@korea.kr