S. Korea, US, Japan to hold vice ministerial meeting in Seoul next week

South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold a vice ministerial meeting in Seoul next week to discuss the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, and other regional and global issues, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.

Wendy Sherman, deputy US state secretary, will make a three-day trip to South Korea beginning Monday, two weeks after US President Joe Biden's visit for a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, according to the ministry.

Sherman will meet her South Korean counterpart, Cho Hyun-dong, on Tuesday, and they will be joined by Japan's Takeo Mori for a tripartite session Wednesday, it noted.

The three are expected to discuss ways to expand trilateral cooperation for stronger deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threat, and other regional and global issues amid China's rising assertiveness and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The trilateral meeting at the vice-ministerial level was last held in Washington DC in November, and it will be the first under the Yoon administration that was launched last month.

On Friday, the top nuclear envoys of the three nations met in Seoul and vowed close coordination against North Korea's provocations amid speculation over its preparation for a nuclear test. (Yonhap)