Japan and South Korea are looking to hold their first working-level security talks in more than five years next month, a diplomatic source said Monday, in the run-up to a scheduled visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to the United States.

An early resumption of the dialogue, last held in March 2018, was agreed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Yoon at their summit on March 16, with Tokyo and Seoul working to improve their ties, which were frayed by a bilateral wartime labor dispute in recent years.

Senior foreign and defense ministry officials from the two countries are likely to affirm close coordination over North Korea, as Pyongyang has shown no signs of halting its ballistic missile launches amid fears about its possible seventh nuclear test, the source said.