Senior diplomats of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan met in Seoul on Wednesday and discussed cooperation on addressing North Korea-related issues in the wake of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. 

First vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Japan’s vice foreign minister Masataka Okano held the 14th vice foreign ministerial meeting, five months after the previous gathering was held in Washington. 

The senior officials, in particular, are likely to have assessed and discussed response measures to high tensions on the peninsula resulting from North Korea’s latest claims that South Korea flew drones over to Pyongyang and from the reclusive state blasting sections of inter-Korean roads. 

They are also expected to have discussed the possibility of Pyongyang engaging in provocations around the U.S. presidential elections set to be held on November 5. 

Setting up a trilateral cooperation secretariat among the three countries is also likely to have been a topic of Wednesday’s discussions.    

The officials are set to reveal the outcome of their meeting in a joint news conference.