South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold a trilateral senior-level defense meeting in the US later this week, an informed source said Monday, amid joint efforts to sharpen deterrence against North Korean threats.

The deputy minister-level Defense Trilateral Talks (DTT) is set to take place Friday (US. time), according to the source who requested anonymity. The last DTT session was held virtually in 2020.

The three sides are expected to discuss ways to flesh out last year's summit agreement by their leaders to share missile warning data in real time to counter the North's nuclear and missile threats.

The meeting comes amid tensions heightened by the North's recent provocative moves, such as its purported tests of underwater nuclear attack drones and the unveiling of the Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warhead.

Washington's trilateral security cooperation with its Asian allies has recently gained traction following Seoul's announcement of a resolution to the thorny issue of compensation for victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.

Ahead of the DTT session, Seoul and Washington are scheduled to hold their regular defense talks, called the Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue, in the US capital on Tuesday and Wednesday. (Yonhap)