SEOUL, Sept 10 (Reuters) – SEOUL, South Korea: Officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan will meet next week to seek to break the impasse in containing North Korea’s nuclear arms and ballistic missile program.

The meeting will take place in Tokyo, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry.

South Korea will be represented by Noh Kyu-duk, Seoul’s special representative for the Korean peninsula peace and security affairs.

Also participating in the meeting will be U.S. envoy for North Korea Sung Kim, and Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general of the Japanese foreign ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.

“The three countries are expected to have in-depth discussions on ways to promote cooperation to stably manage the situation of the Korean Peninsula and resume the peninsula peace process at an early date,” according to a statement released by the South Korean foreign ministry.

The Biden administration has said that the U.S. government will seek to work through diplomacy to achieve North Korean denuclearisation. At the same time, no mention has been made of easing sanctions on North Korea.

In August, U.S. representative Sung Kim said he was willing to meet with North Korean officials “anywhere, at any time”.

While North Korea has said it is also open to negotiations, it notes that it awaits a reduction in sanctions and the end to joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.