Finance ministers of South Korea and Japan may meet in the coming months after such talks have been suspended for over two years due to frayed diplomatic relations, an official source at the finance ministry said Monday.

"Efforts are underway to hold the ministerial meeting in the near future although no date has been agreed upon yet," a source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The last time the two ministers met formally in a bilateral setting was in November 2012, before the uproar in South Korea over territorial matters and Japan's whitewashing of its past colonial and wartime atrocities.

Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan did, however, meet his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank meeting in Washington in October last year. At the time, both men concurred on the need to hold dedicated talks at the earliest possible date.

The source said no agenda has been set for the possible talks, although media reports from Tokyo speculated the finance ministers could address their efforts if the United States hikes it key rates as expected later this year.

Any move by the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise rates could bring about market volatility and adversely affect certain financial markets in Asia and developing economies. The two ministers could discuss economic and fiscal conditions facing both countries, the source said.

Such a meeting, if held, could conceivably segue into a new currency swap arrangement, financial watchers say.

There have been consistent reports from Japan that the current $10 billion swap deal will expire on Feb. 23 due to a clash of political egos and pride. Under this arrangement, each country can use their respective currencies to get U.S. dollars from the other side at a pre-determined rate, which could come in handy in an emergency.

The pact was originally set up in July 2001, with the total that can be swapped being expanded at one time to $70 billion. (Yonhap)