U.S., South Korea to hold talks among foreign, defence chiefs

The United States and South Korea's top foreign and defence officials are set to hold talks on Thursday in Washington, amid rising tensions stemming from reports of North Korea's troop deployment to Russia.
The discussions will involve U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, along with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae Yul and Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of State released on Sunday.
The meeting will address a variety of global and regional issues while strengthening the countries' alliance, the ministry said.
The meeting comes in the wake of recent reports from South Korea and Ukraine that thousands of North Korean soldiers were being sent to Russia ahead of their deployment to Ukraine.
South Korea's intelligence service last week told members of parliament that North Korea had already sent about 3,000 soldiers to Russia, the Yonhap news agency reported. Seoul has condemned the deployment as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and the UN Charter.
Last week, Austin confirmed that the U.S. has "evidence" that North Korean troops are in Russia but that it is not yet clear what they are doing.
The U.S. considers the alliance between the two countries to be dangerous and has repeatedly accused Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with ammunition and weapons for use in its war against Ukraine.