South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo, second from right, South Korean Vice Minister of National Defense Lee Doo-hee, right, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi, second from left, and Japanese Vice Defense Minister Koji Kano pose ahead of their security talks in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
South Korea and Japan held their first "two-plus-two" vice-ministerial talks between their foreign and defense ministries in Seoul on Thursday to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation on a range of security issues of mutual interest, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
The security policy consultation between the two countries' foreign and defense authorities had previously been held at the director-general level but has been upgraded to the vice-ministerial level for the first time this year.
First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and Vice Minister of National Defense Lee Doo-hee attended the meeting. From Japan, Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi and Vice Defense Minister Koji Kano also participated, according to the ministry.
The two sides are expected to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral and trilateral security cooperation involving the United States amid rapidly changing security conditions and complex challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, including North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile capabilities.
Also on the table would be the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, including the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, officials said.
Seoul and Tokyo launched the bilateral security consultation in 1998. Since then, the talks have been suspended and resumed amid fluctuations in bilateral relations.
The previous meeting was held in Tokyo in November 2024.
Source: Korea Times News
