In Tokyo on Monday, November 2, 2026, South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon‑joo will meet with Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi for the 17th bilateral strategic dialogue, according to officials from Seoul’s foreign ministry. The two sides are set to discuss a range of issues that span regional security, economic collaboration, and the planning of future high‑level summits between their respective leaders.
The talks will focus strongly on North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile programmes, a subject that has kept the two neighbours on high alert for years. Both ministers are expected to exchange views on how to strengthen cooperation with the United States in a trilateral framework aimed at complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, building on commitments made the previous week at a G20‑sponsored gathering in Atlanta. There, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi reaffirmed their resolve to pursue a “complete denuclearisation” of North Korea and the full implementation of all United Nations Security Council resolutions, while also agreeing to maintain a robust deterrence posture and pursue peace through dialogue and diplomacy, according to the U.S. State Department.
Beyond nuclear concerns, the dialogue will cover ways to enhance the pair’s economic security. The two governments are slated to discuss cooperation on small modular reactors (SMRs), supply‑chain resilience, and issues related to the Arctic, reflecting a growing sense that regional cooperation must extend beyond security into broader economic domains.
The meeting will also address the coordination of the timing and venue for the next summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. After a May summit in the southeastern South Korean city of Andong, Prime Minister Takaichi mentioned a regional hot‑spring town in Japan as a potential location for the next talks. The two governments have since been working together to finalize the details, underscoring President Lee and Prime Minister Takaichi’s shared commitment to regular summit meetings as part of their shuttle diplomacy initiative.
South Korea and Japan have reiterated their commitment to maintaining a positive momentum in bilateral ties, a stance that gained particular prominence during the recent G20‑related meeting in Atlanta. Officials on both sides emphasized the importance of strengthening future‑oriented cooperation through a series of regular shuttle‑diplomacy exchanges, ensuring that both domestic security concerns and broader diplomatic initiatives remain at the forefront of their agenda.
These vice‑ministerial talks mark another key step in a series of diplomatic efforts that sought to build on the momentum generated at the G20 summit and to further consolidate the trilateral relationship between Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington. By engaging on issues ranging from nuclear disarmament to economic resilience, the two nations aim to set the groundwork for a more integrated regional security architecture and to keep the Northern Korean demarcation line as low as technologically and politically possible.
