South Korea and the United States have strengthened policy cooperation in the science and technology sector for the past few decades, a U.S. senior official said Wednesday, as the two allies are in closer talks over toughened international sanctions against North Korea.

"South Korea and the U.S. cooperate in areas in which we have much to learn from each other and much leverage to gain by working together," John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a special lecture at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology located in Daejeon.

He has been on a South Korean visit to attend the ninth meeting of the Korea-U.S. Joint Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation in Seoul slated for Thursday.

At the meeting, the two countries will discuss ways to enhance bilateral policy collaboration in many areas including robotics, cybersecurity, nanotechnology and cross-ministerial research and development investments.

They will expand their discussions to issues like oceans and polar affairs, space exploration, nuclear energy and climate change.

Since they reached an agreement on bilateral science and technology cooperation in 1976, the two countries renewed the agreement to upgrade the pact every five years.

"Cooperation depends on supportive leaders, and we've got them.

They strongly support cooperation between the two countries in this space," said the U.S. official who also serves as assistant to President Obama for science and technology, referring to the summit talks in Washington last year.

Meanwhile, the two countries along with other global powers have been getting closer to deal with the implementation of the sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye is scheduled to hold talks with her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in Washington on Thursday on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit set for Thursday and Friday.

The meeting comes after the United Nations Security Council slapped North Korea with the toughest sanctions in decades earlier this month over the North's January nuclear test and long-range rocket launch in February. (Yonhap)