They will confirm close cooperation to address North Korean issues, it said, as Tokyo and Seoul remain entangled in a still-fresh territorial dispute.

US special representative for North Korea policy Glyn Davies, Seoul's Lim Sung-Nam, envoy for the six-nation denuclearisation forum, and Japanese senior official Shinsuke Sugiyama will meet on Wednesday, an official statement said.

The senior officials will follow up on three-way talks by foreign ministers last month, which were hosted by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in New York.

The three allies discussed the stalled six-party talks aimed at persuading North Korea to end its suspect nuclear programme.

In the meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan and Japan's Koichiro Gemba, Clinton also insisted that Asian nations have "a responsibility" to lower tensions amid a heated war of words between regional powers over disputed island chains.

The ties between Tokyo and Seoul suddenly cooled as Japan reacted furiously at South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak's visit to islands known as the Dokdos in Korean and Takeshimas in Japanese.

The territory is controlled by Seoul but claimed by both countries.