South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong said Wednesday Seoul will continue to take a "stern" position on historical issues with Japan while trying to increase cooperation with the neighboring nation on other matters.

Cho spoke to reporters upon arriving in Washington for a trilateral meeting set for Thursday with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki, where historical tensions between Seoul and Tokyo are expected to be discussed.

"We've been maintaining a clear, stern and consistent position on history issues. Through this, we are making diplomatic efforts to get Japan to act based on a correct perception of history," Cho said at the airport. "At the same time, we are promoting cooperation with Japan on issues where we should increase our national interests, such as the North Korean nuclear issue."

Thursday's talks would mark the first vice foreign ministerial talks between the three countries.

Cho said Blinken first proposed the talks when he visited Seoul in February.

The meeting appears to reflect the urgency the U.S. sees in the need for improvement in Korea-Japan ties, which have been badly strained for years, due mainly to Tokyo's attempts to whitewash its wartime atrocities and colonial occupation, especially its sexual enslavement of women for its troops during World War II.

The two countries have not held a formal bilateral summit of their leaders since 2012 as Tokyo has refused to accept Seoul's demand that it formally apologize to and compensate the sexual slavery victims, known as "comfort women."

Frayed relations between the two allies have been a key cause for concern for the U.S. as it seeks to bolster three-way security cooperation seen as a key pillar for President Barack Obama's "pivot to Asia" initiative aimed in part at keeping a rising China in check. (Yonhap)