The top State Department diplomat for East Asia said Wednesday that the U.S. stands ready to assist South Korea and Japan in resolving disputes over exports and compensation for the World War II-era occupation of South Korea by Japanese forces.

The Associated Press and Reuters reported Wednesday that David Stilwell, who is in charge of U.S. relations in that region, told reporters that Washington "will do what it can do to support their efforts to resolve" the disputes.

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“Fundamentally [South Korea] and Japan must resolve the sensitive matters and we hope that the resolution happens soon,” Stilwell said, according to the AP. “[The] United States is a close friend and ally to both. We will do what we can to support their efforts to resolve this.”

In recent weeks, Japanese officials have tightened exports to South Korea after reports indicated that some high-tech products made their way across the border to secluded North Korea. South Korea has denied those reports.

Disputes over reparations for the 30-plus years of colonial occupation of South Korea by Japanese forces have also flared up recently, according to news reports.

The tightening of exports could possibly affect prices in the U.S., one senior South Korean official told Reuters.

“It will adversely affect companies ranging from Apple, Amazon, Dell, Sony and billions of consumers all over the world," the official said.

“We will make utmost effort not to disrupt future production," Samsung, a South Korean tech giant with a large U.S. presence, said in a statement.