Lima: Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken are set to engage in crucial discussions on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Peru later this week, as announced by Seoul's foreign ministry on Thursday. The meeting, scheduled for early Friday (Seoul time) in Lima, will see the two diplomats participate in a ministerial assembly while accompanying their respective presidents at the APEC summit. According to Yonhap News Agency, the discussions are expected to focus on North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia to support Moscow's ongoing conflict with Ukraine. This development follows a confirmation from South Korea's spy agency that North Korean soldiers have been actively involved in combat against Ukrainian forces in the western Kursk border region of Russia. This confirmation aligns with a prior statement from the U.S. State Department indicating that a significant number of the 10,000 North Korean soldiers stationed in Kursk have engag ed in combat operations. After meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Wednesday, Blinken emphasized the necessity for a "firm response" to North Korea's involvement in Russia's war against Kyiv. He expressed concerns over the growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, highlighting the potential reciprocal benefits Moscow might be providing Pyongyang, potentially enhancing North Korea's nuclear and military capabilities. In addition to addressing the North Korean troop deployment, Cho and Blinken are anticipated to deliberate on strategies to fortify the bilateral alliance amidst the transition to the incoming Donald Trump administration. The upcoming talks follow a recent meeting between Cho and Blinken in Washington, D.C., where they participated in a "two plus two" dialogue alongside the defense chiefs of both nations.