SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) – South Korea's deputy foreign minister is visiting Washington this week to attend the first meeting of the envisioned three-way Indo-Pacific dialogue with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, a ministry official said Thursday.

At the landmark Camp David summit in August last year, the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed to launch the annual trilateral Indo-Pacific dialogue focused on coordinating implementation of their respective Indo-Pacific approaches.

During their talks Friday, Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts -- Daniel Kritenbrink and Yasuhiro Kobe, respectively -- will discuss ways to step up trilateral cooperation in the region with an emphasis on partnership with Southeast Asian and Pacific Island countries, according to the official.

Separately, Chung will hold bilateral consultations with Kritenbrink and meet other officials, including those at the U.S. National Security Council.

It marks Chung's first visit to the U.S. since he took office in August. Late last month, he visited Japan to discuss pending bilateral issues with Takehiro Funakoshi, Japan's senior deputy foreign minister.

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