South Korea's foreign and defense ministers plan to leave for the United States this week to attend a security meeting with their counterparts from Washington slated for later this week, officials said Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Defense Minister Han Min-koo will fly to the U.S. on Wednesday to hold a so-called "two plus two" meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Thursday afternoon (Washington Time) in the U.S. capital, according to government officials.

The planned meeting, the third of its kind, comes amid North Korea's persistent nuclear threat, the U.S.-led campaign to defeat Islamic State extremists and the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

On the Korean Peninsula, North Korea has continued to make provocations despite growing signs of improving inter-Korean relations. Japan is also seeking to increase its military role through the right to collective self-defense, seen as an attempt to deter North Korea and a rising China.

Foreign Minister Yun may meet with his U.S. counterpart Kerry separately on the sidelines of the 2+2 meeting, sources said.

South Korea and the U.S. will also hold their annual defense ministers' talks, known as the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), before the two plus two meeting opens, officials said.

Seoul and Washington are expected to unveil a deal on delaying the planned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces from Washington to Seoul while reaffirming joint efforts to strengthen combined defense capabilities.

It is widely expected that the two sides are taking a "conditions-based approach" to the issue of delaying the OPCON transfer.

South Korea is scheduled to get back operational control in the event of war in December 2015. However, last year, Seoul asked for another delay in the OPCON transfer following the North's nuclear test in February 2013. (Yonhap)