Mark Esper,... who is visiting Australia for his first international trip since being sworn in as the new U.S. Defense Secretary,... will visit South Korea on Friday to meet his South Korean counterpart.
They are set to discuss a range of issues, including North Korea's denuclearization, defense cost sharing, and the possibility of dispatching South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz.
Kim Hyo-sun reports.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper will visit South Korea this week to sit down with his counterpart to discuss security-related issues.
This will be his first visit to Seoul since taking office late last month.
His meeting with Seoul's defense chief Jeong Kyeong-doo on Friday is set to receive the spotlight at home and abroad,... as it comes amid North Korea's continued military provocations.
South Korea's Defense Ministry says the visit will be a chance to reaffirm the broad principles of the alliance.
It added they will discuss a range of issues,... including the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S. to South Korea.
The talks may also cover the issue of cost-sharing between Seoul and Washington to cover the expenses of stationing U.S. troops in the country.
Jeong and Esper could also discuss Washington's possible dispatch of intermediate-range missiles in Asia.
The Pentagon chief told reporters in Sydney on Saturday that he hopes to see it happen.

"But let's be clear, I'm talking about conventional weapons, INF range... I would prefer months. I just don't have, I don't have the latest state of play on timelines for either a cruise missile or long range missile as the Army was preparing it, but these things tend to take longer than you expect."

The issue of South Korea's military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan could also be an agenda item as Seoul announced last Friday that as part of its countermeasures against Tokyo's trade curbs on Seoul,... it could review whether to renew the General Security of Military Information Agreement,... seen as an essential part of trilateral security cooperation with the U.S.
It's also left to be seen whether Esper will make a formal request to dispatch South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,... currently in Australia with Esper,... has said he hopes to see Seoul and Tokyo participate in protecting the world's primary oil shipping channel from threats posed by Iran.
Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.