South Korea and Japan joined hands to boost cooperation on the development of key industry materials and advanced technologies in such major fields as semiconductors and displays, Seoul's industry ministry said Friday.

The two nations held an event Wednesday to launch a project to jointly conduct technology research and development programs in the fine chemical fields as part of efforts to strengthen their industry competitiveness, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The programs are expected to be focused on developing key materials used for manufacturing semiconductors, secondary batteries, display items and other high-tech sectors, and details of the programs will be finalized after further consultations.

The Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, the Korea Electronics Technology Institute and several other state-run industry-related institutes joined the project, along with experts from Osaka University, Shinshu University, and major Japanese schools and institutes, the ministry added.

"The technology cooperation is expected to help South Korea raise its market share in the global key materials market to 15 percent in around 2031 from the current 5.7 percent," First Vice Industry Minister Jang Young-jin said.

The move came as Seoul and Tokyo have recently been working to improve their diplomatic and economic ties, and enhance industry relationships.

In March, President Yoon Suk Yeol offered to resolve the wartime forced labor issue by compensating victims on South Korea's own without asking for contributions from Japan.

The bilateral relationship soured in 2019, as Japan imposed export curbs against South Korea in retaliation against the 2018 South Korean Supreme Court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate South Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)