(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan hold high-level talks amid speculation on N.K. nuke test

(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES throughout; REPLACES photo)

SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- Senior diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan held consultations Wednesday on regional and global security issues amid concerns over the possibility of a North Korean nuclear test.

South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong held the trilateral session with his American and Japanese counterparts -- Wendy Sherman and Takeo Mori -- in Tokyo to discuss ways to deal with North Korea's evolving threats highlighted by a series of ballistic missile launches in recent weeks.

This week's session came amid rampant speculation that the Kim Jong-un regime may soon press ahead with another nuclear test and carry out additional provocative acts.

Officials in Seoul say the secretive North is apparently all set for its first nuclear test since September 2017.

The previous tripartite meeting of the No. 2 diplomats took place in Seoul in June.

On Tuesday, Cho had one-on-one consultations with Sherman with a focus on Washington's commitment to extended deterrence for Seoul.

In a separate bilateral meeting with Mori on the same day, Cho discussed the protracted row over wartime forced labor and other areas of mutual concern and agreed to consult each "with a sense of tension and speed."

odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)