Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul (right) poses with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during their talks at Seoul's foreign ministry, in this March 18. (Yonhap)

South Korea and the United States will hold their "two plus two" talks among top foreign and defense officials this week, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday, amid heightened tensions with North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia.

The talks will take place in Washington on Thursday among Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, according to a ministry statement.

The meeting comes as North Korea is believed to have sent troops to Russia for potential deployment in the Ukraine war. Both South Korea and the United States have confirmed North Korea’s dispatch of thousands of troops to eastern Russia.

The top officials will hold "broad discussions on the Korean Peninsula, the bilateral alliance, and other regional and global issues," the ministry said, and a joint statement will be issued based on the outcome.

The US State Department, in a separate statement, noted that Washington expects the talks to strengthen cooperation on a range of global and regional issues, further deepening the US-ROK alliance.

While in Washington, Cho and Blinken will hold one-on-one talks focusing on the alliance, trilateral cooperation with Japan, and coordinated responses to North Korean threats, the foreign ministry said.

Following the Washington visit, Cho and Kim will travel to Canada for the inaugural foreign and defense ministers' meeting with Canadian counterparts.

The launch of "two plus two" talks with Canada marks South Korea’s third such partnership, following similar frameworks with the US and Australia. The first session in Ottawa will address defense and security cooperation and Korean Peninsula issues, concluding with a joint statement.

During the trip, Cho will also hold bilateral talks with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly to discuss cooperation and North Korean issues, according to Cho's office. (Yonhap)