For Japan and South Korea, the resumption of top-level dialogue in and of itself is a major step forward.
Meeting for their first official talks in about 15 months, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent one main message: They will prevent the bilateral situation from spiraling out of control.
That comes as a relief to diplomats who had, until recently, feared the worst of the dispute was yet to come for the Asian neighbors, due to disagreements over compensation for wartime forced labor and Japan's tightening of export controls.