U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will visit South Korea this week for annual security talks between the allies, the Pentagon said, amid high tensions over North Korea's nuclear program.

Mattis will co-chair the 49th annual Security Consultative Meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo, the Pentagon said in a statement late Saturday. It did not release the date, but the talks are reportedly scheduled for the coming Saturday.

The allies will be meeting as tensions have reached new levels with North Korea's test-firing of long-range ballistic missiles and its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, held in September. The talks also come ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's first visit to South Korea and the region in November.

The Pentagon said Mattis embarked on his trip Saturday to "re-affirm the enduring U.S. commitment to the Asia-Pacific."

   He will participate in a meeting of defense ministers led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Philippines from Monday to Wednesday and then lead the U.S. presidential delegation to the funeral of the late Thai king in Bangkok on Thursday.

Source : Yonhap