South Korean President Moon Jae-in was scheduled to meet US Defense Secretary James Mattis on Friday, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.

The meeting will be held later in the day at Cheong Wa Dae. Mattis arrived here earlier in the day for an annual defense dialogue between the allies, called the Security Consultative Meeting that will be held Saturday.

The meeting between Moon and Mattis was largely expected to focus on the upcoming Korea-US summit, slated to be held here in Seoul on Nov. 7.

However, the two may also touch on current issues that will likely include ways to tame North Korea, Cheong Wa Dae officials noted.


Pyongyang currently remains rather silent, but it has steadily escalated tensions in the region since Moon took office in May, staging several ballistic missile tests. The communist state has also conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test so far on Sept. 3.

Prior to making his courtesy call on the South Korean leader, Mattis was scheduled to visit the Joint Security Area inside the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone with his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo.

Dressed in their military uniforms, the retired generals were expected to read out a statement urging the North to cease any further provocations, according to earlier reports. (Yonhap)