The secretary of the U.S. Navy will meet with South Korea's defense minister on Friday to discuss measures to better counter threats from North Korea, the military said.

US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus is set to meet Han Min-koo in Seoul, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.

"The US naval official and South Korea's top defense policymaker will discuss measures to strengthen the bilateral alliance against growing (nuclear and missile) threats from the North and to cooperate on North Korean policies," the statement said.

It is Mabus' sixth visit to South Korea since he took office in May 2009, and he is meeting Han for the second time following their first meeting in 2014, it said.

The naval official also plans to meet South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin and Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Jung Ho-sup. He leaves Seoul for Sri Lanka on Saturday, the ministry said. (Yonhap)