Tokyo, 10 February, /AJMEDIA/
Japan, the United States, and South Korea have reaffirmed cooperation in addressing global security challenges and threats imposed by North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Thursday.
During the trilateral security talks over the phone, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and his U.S. and South Korean counterparts Lloyd Austin and Suh Wook emphasized that recent ballistic missile launches by Pyongyang are destabilizing to regional security and a clear violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.
North Korea’s recent barrage of missile tests included what appears to have been the longest-range ballistic missile it has launched since 2017. Pyongyang, meanwhile, has hinted at resuming nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
The defense chiefs of the three countries also agreed to conduct in-person trilateral defense ministerial talks at a future date and continue efforts to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the ministry said.
Separately, the U.S. Defense Department on Wednesday said that the U.S. commitment to the defense of Japan and South Korea is “ironclad.”
