U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visits South Korea on Monday for talks expected to involve Washington's goal of reshaping the role of U.S. troops in Korea and is also due to visit the DMZ border with North Korea, Reuters reported.

The defence chiefs are scheduled to hold the annual Security Consultative Meeting on Tuesday, the highest-level forum where the two countries chart the course of their military alliance and South Korea's defence against nuclear-armed North Korea.

South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Hegseth will discuss combined defence readiness against North Korea and cooperation on regional security and cyber and missile defence, the South's Defence Ministry said, according to Reuters.