South Korea and Japan held their first vice ministerial-level “two-plus-two” foreign defense talks in Seoul on Thursday, amid growing regional tensions and broader efforts to strengthen trilateral cooperation with the United States.
The security dialogue, which was previously conducted at the director-general level between the two countries’ foreign and defense authorities, was elevated 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 Senior Vice Defense Minister Koji Kano participated in the meeting.
The officials were expected to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral and trilateral security cooperation involving the US amid rapidly changing security conditions and increasingly complex challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.
North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile capabilities were likely to be among the key topics on the agenda, officials said.
The two sides were also expected to exchange views on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, including the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
As both South Korea and Japan rely heavily on energy imports from the Middle East, officials were expected to discuss possible cooperation on maritime security and energy supply stability linked to the reopening of the strategically vital waterway.
The South Korea-Japan Security Policy Consultation was launched following a 1997 agreement reached during bilateral foreign ministers’ talks, with the inaugural meeting held in Seoul the following year.
Since then, the dialogue mechanism has been suspended and resumed multiple times depending on the state of bilateral ties. The previous round of talks was held in Tokyo in November 2024.
The upgraded talks come as Seoul and Tokyo continue efforts to stabilize and expand bilateral security cooperation alongside trilateral coordination with Washington.
Earlier this year, President Lee Jae-myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reaffirmed the importance of South Korea-Japan and trilateral cooperation with the United States during a summit held in Nara Prefecture.
Still, differences remain over the scope and pace of deeper defense cooperation.
Japan has reportedly expressed support for concluding an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement aimed at facilitating logistical cooperation between the South Korean military and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. Seoul is understood to be approaching the issue more cautiously.
Tokyo has generally been more proactive in responding to Washington’s push to strengthen South Korea-Japan ties — often regarded as the weakest link in trilateral security cooperation among Seoul, Tokyo and Washington — not only to deter North Korea but also to counter China’s growing regional influence.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
![[Weekender] AI made work faster. So why are workers more exhausted?](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/05/14/news-p.v1.20260514.8873c9bd4d464389b17eb42f3e0f88a1_R.jpg?type=h&h=120)
