Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul is on his way to board a flight to Japan at Gimpo International Airport, March 21. Yonhap

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul left for Tokyo on Friday to take part in a trilateral meeting with his Japanese and Chinese counterparts to discuss ways to boost cooperation, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

Cho will join Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for the three-way meeting in the Japanese capital Saturday, the first of its kind since the last one held in November 2023 in Korea's southeastern port city of Busan.

The ministers will assess the progress of trilateral cooperation and exchange views on the future development of the tripartite cooperation, as well as regional and international issues, according to the Korean foreign ministry.

They are also likely to have broad discussions on ways to boost three-way cooperation in economy, culture and people-to-people exchanges, and issues related to the Korean Peninsula.

Also expected to be discussed are trilateral coordination efforts to ensure a smooth hosting of a summit meeting of the three nations' leaders, which Japan is set to hold later this year.

On the sidelines, Cho is scheduled to meet separately with the two ministers, including a meeting with Wang on Friday. The top diplomats are expected to discuss cooperation regarding Korea's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit later this year.

With Iwaya, Cho is expected to delve into the preparations for the 60th anniversary of the normalization of the two countries' diplomatic ties, set for June, among other bilateral issues.

The latest trip by Cho marks his first visit to Tokyo since taking office in January last year, and the first by a Korean foreign minister in his own capacity since former Foreign Minister Park Jin's trip to Tokyo in July 2022. (Yonhap)