Ivanov will fly in on Friday after visiting South Korea, a Japan Defense Agency official said.

It will be the first meeting in three months since Ivanov talked with the agency's director general, Shigeru Ishiba, who visited Moscow in January, the official said.

"In January, the two talked about the situation in North Korea and Iraq and there have been many developments since then which they will probably talk about," the official said.

The ministers, who are to meet Friday, were also due to discuss cooperation in the defense of both Japan and Russia, he said.

There were no plans to talk about missile defense, which Ishiba has said should be studied, but the two may exchange views on it, the official said.

North Korean missiles have been regarded as a major security threat here ever since 1998 when the Stalinist state launched a suspected Taepodong-1 ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific.

In late March, Japan launched the first two of four spy satellites aboard a Japanese H-2A rocket, part of a plan to be set in operation this year to obtain independent intelligence for the nation's defense.

Ivanov is scheduled to visit the Maritime Self Defense Forces' facilities in Yokosuka, near Tokyo, on Saturday, before departing for Moscow on Sunday.

SPACE.WIRE