Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, agreed Thursday to closely communicate for "future-oriented" relations despite reconfirming that the two countries have differences on wartime history.

Seoul's foreign ministry said the top diplomats held face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to discuss thorny issues.

Chung called on Motegi to accelerate bilateral diplomatic consultations to find solutions to the historical issues and reiterated that Japan's export curbs should be retracted at an early date.

The foreign minister also used the meeting to stress the need for inter-Korean dialogue to completely denuclearize North Korea.

In response, Motegi pledged continued cooperation for substantive progress in efforts to achieve lasting peace on the peninsula.