South Korea has decided to restart talks with Japan on signing a bilateral agreement on sharing sensitive military information, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said Thursday.

The official said the country expects it to be concluded before long.

The working-level talks for concluding a General Security of Military Information Agreement "will not take long," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Such an accord would provide Tokyo and Seoul with a bilateral channel for exchanging sensitive information on military affairs and prevent it from falling into the hands of a third country.