Government officials of South Korea and Japan will hold talks in Tokyo as early as this week to discuss Japan's toughening of restrictions on exports of key chemicals to South Korea, a news report said Tuesday.

The meeting, if realized, will be the first time officials of the two countries have met since Japan announced on July 1 a stringent approval process for exports to Seoul of high-tech materials essential for the production of semiconductors and display panels, a report by Yomiuri Shimbun said.

The report didn't provide further details, such as who would lead the talks.

Japan imposed the export curbs in retaliation for last year's decisions by South Korea's Supreme Court that Japanese companies should compensate Korean victims of wartime forced labor during Japan's colonial rule.

Tokyo has strongly protested the decisions, arguing that all compensation issues between the two countries were settled under a 1965 treaty that the South signed when normalizing relations with Japan in exchange for $500 million in compensation.

On Monday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in called for a diplomatic solution to the dispute and urged Japan to withdraw what he described as a politically motivated measure in retaliation against Korean court rulings on forced labor.

Moon also warned of countermeasures if the Japanese decision damages South Korean companies. (Yonhap)