Japan and South Korea will hold a working-level meeting of defense officials Wednesday in Seoul, the first in nearly 2½ years, Defense Ministry officials in Tokyo said.
The last such meeting was in March 2013. Relations with South Korea have soured over territorial and historical issues, including wartime Korean "comfort women" forced to provide sex for Japanese troops.
Japanese participants will include Atsuo Suzuki, deputy director general of the Defense Ministry's Defense Policy Bureau.
Among the South Korean participants will be Yoon Soon-gu, director general of the National Defense Ministry's International Policy Bureau.
The Japanese are expected to explain Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines revised in April and the security bills now in the Diet.
The meeting is also expected to deal with North Korea's nuclear arms and missile programs, as well as exchanges between Japanese and South Korean officials.