Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso will visit Sydney this week and hold trilateral strategic talks with Australia and the United States, Foreign Ministry officials said Wednesday.

Aso will meet with his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday. A joint statement would be issued after the talk, which would address the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and the Iranian one, according to the officials.

The three top diplomats are also expected to discuss East Asian and Pacific affairs as well as troops withdrawal from Iraq.

It will be the first ministerial trilateral strategic dialogue between the three countries since they decided to upgrade their meetings in May 2005, Kyodo News reported.

During his three-day visit starting from Friday, Aso is also slated to pay a courtesy call on Australian Prime Minister John Howard. The minister would also hold separate bilateral talks with Downer and Rice.

Source: Xinhua