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South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi pose for a photo ahead of their meeting in New York on Sept. 21 (local time). / Yonhap News Agency

The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan are set to meet in the U.S. on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The three countries are expected to discuss ways to coordinate their efforts amid growing prospects for the resumption of dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.

According to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Oct. 30, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi are scheduled to hold a trilateral meeting in Atlanta that afternoon (local time). The meeting is expected to take place in the early morning or morning of Oct. 31, Korea time.

The meeting follows trilateral talks held on July 7 on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Türkiye, July 22 at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in the Philippines, and Sept. 21 during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. It will be their third meeting, coming about a month after their previous talks.

The three foreign ministers are expected to assess North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches and its increasingly close ties with China following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to Beijing. They are also expected to discuss ways to coordinate their policies toward North Korea.

With the South Korean government emphasizing its role as a pacemaker in efforts to resume dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, attention is focused on whether the ministers will also exchange views on ways to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table.

At their previous meeting in New York on Sept. 21, the three foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea and urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue.

Other major agenda items are expected to include regional developments, particularly in the Taiwan Strait, as well as cooperation on energy and economic security.

At last month's meeting, the ministers also discussed peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and agreed to strengthen supply chain early warning systems while opposing economic coercion, including arbitrary export restrictions.

Meanwhile, Cho plans to hold bilateral meetings with counterparts from major European countries on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

He also intends to ask the U.S. side to expedite visa issuance for Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Jin Sungjoon and Jung Chungrae, whose U.S. visa applications have reportedly been denied or delayed.

Speaking before his departure the previous day, Cho described the delays in issuing U.S. visas to the lawmakers as "unrelated to South Korea-U.S. relations" but also said the situation was "undesirable."

                                                                                                              Lee Han-sol