South Korea’s defense chief left for the United States on Wednesday for talks with his U.S. counterpart to finalize the time frame and conditions for Seoul’s takeover of wartime command from Washington, the defense ministry said Monday.

During his three-day trip, Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo will meet U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in Washington on Thursday (Washington time) for the 46th Security Consultative Meeting, the allies’ annual defense chiefs’ talks.

High on the agenda will be when and under what conditions South Korea will retake wartime operational control of its troops from the U.S.

During the 1950-53 Korean War, South Korea handed over control of its forces to the U.S. to defend against invading troops from North Korea.

While peacetime control of its forces was returned in 1994, and Seoul was scheduled to get back operational control in the event of war in December 2015, the Asian country asked for a delay in the handover, citing unstable security situations on the Korean Peninsula due to the communist country’s third nuclear test and evolving missiles threats.

The two defense chiefs will also discuss diverse pending and future issues, including how to develop a tailored deterrence strategy against Pyongyang’s threats from nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction to cooperation on space issues and cyberspace, according to the ministry.

Han and Hagel are then scheduled to hold a back-to-back meeting involving top diplomats from the two countries ― South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ― to discuss a wide range of security and alliance issues, it added.

Yun also left for the U.S. on Wednesday for the so-called “two plus two” meeting, the third of its kind, following similar talks in 2010 and 2012.

Seoul’s top diplomat is likely to hold a separate meeting with Kerry on the sidelines of the 2+2 meeting, officials said.

Before returning home, Han plans to meet with former commanders of the U.S. Forces Korea, as well as a group of experts on Korean Peninsula issues, according to the ministry.

His visit to the U.S., his first trip after taking office in June, comes at a time when the inter-Korean relations stand at a crossroads.

Earlier this month, big-name officials from the North made a surprise visit to the South and met with senior government officials, during which they agreed upon holding more high-level bilateral talks in early November at the latest, raising hope for a thaw in the icy inter-Korean ties.

But tensions have been heightened on the peninsula since then as the two Koreas exchanged fire three times near their heavily fortified border regions.

In the latest incident, the South on Sunday fired warning shots to turn back some 10 North Korean soldiers who were approaching the military demarcation line in the northern border town of Paju. The North fired back, which prompted the South to fire in return. (Yonhap)