South Korea's foreign minister plans meet with his Russian counterpart in Germany on the weekend to discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons program and other issues, the foreign ministry said Friday.
The meeting between Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Sergey Lavrov is scheduled for Sunday in Munich, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Yun departed for Germany a day earlier for his meetings with foreign ministers from around the world, including Germany and the U.S., on the margins of the Munich Security Conference set for three days since Friday.
The Sunday meeting is expected to focus on how to step up the two countries' collaboration over the North Korean nuclear issue amid growing ties between Russia and North Korea.
Late last month, Russia disclosed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's plan to attend the Russian ceremony in May to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in World War II.
"Through the South Korea-Russia foreign ministers' meeting, (the officials) plan to assess bilateral relations and to express willingness to pursue the steady development of bilateral ties," a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
"(The countries) plan to step up cooperation over the Korean Peninsula's peace and security and the North Korean nuclear issue."
Also on the agenda will be President Park Geun-hye's possible attendance to the Russian ceremony as well as the North Korean leader's participation in the event, according to diplomatic sources.
Seoul has yet to decide whether Park would attend the Russian ceremony although she was reportedly invited.
The foreign ministers are also expected to touch on ways to resume the long-stalled six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program as well as the current state of the communist country.
Besides foreign ministers of Germany, the U.S. and Russia, Yun is also scheduled to meet with his counterparts from Switzerland and Italy before returning home on Monday. (Yonhap)
