South Korea and Japan were set to hold vice foreign ministerial talks Monday in Karuizawa, Japan, covering North Korea, a possible leaders' summit and economic security, Yonhap reported, citing South Korean foreign ministry officials¹.

First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo was scheduled to meet Japanese counterpart Takehiro Funakoshi in Nagano Prefecture for the 17th bilateral strategic dialogue, according to the report¹.

A ministry official said the meeting was expected to cover bilateral relations as well as regional and global affairs, Yonhap reported¹. Officials said the dialogue would focus on coordinating the timing and venue of the next summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi after a May meeting in Andong, South Korea¹.

Takaichi has mentioned a regional hot spring town in Japan as a possible venue; the two governments have been coordinating details under a shuttle diplomacy effort, Yonhap said¹.

The sides were also expected to discuss North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and cooperation with the United States¹. Yonhap said South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, meeting last week in Atlanta on the sidelines of a Group of 20 gathering, restated a commitment to complete denuclearization of North Korea and U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to the U.S. account cited in the report¹.

The agenda was also expected to include economic security, including small modular reactors, supply chains and Arctic-related issues, Yonhap said¹.

Sources

1. Yonhap(LEAD) S. Korea, Japan to hold vice foreign ministerial talks on N. Korea, bilateral issues1:11 AM

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