South Korea and Australia will reportedly hold a meeting of foreign and defense ministers in Canberra early next month. 

According to diplomatic sources on Tuesday, the two sides are in the final stages of arranging the meeting, which will be the first such gathering in two years and seven months. The last meeting was held in September 2021 in Seoul. 

If held, foreign minister Cho Tae-yul and defense minister Shin Won-sik will also likely hold separate bilateral talks with their respective counterparts -- Penny Wong and Richard Marles.

The sixth session of the so-called two-plus-two talks was initially set to take place last October, but the Australian foreign minister canceled it as her country had to evacuate its nationals from Israel after the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas. 

In the talks, if realized, the two sides are expected to discuss overall bilateral issues in the foreign and defense fields, including defense industry cooperation, as well as issues on the Korean Peninsula and regional and global issues.

Australia is the only country that South Korea holds regular talks of the foreign and defense chiefs besides its ally, the United States.