Senior diplomats from Japan, the United States and South Korea have reaffirmed their close cooperation in dealing with North Korea following Pyongyang's latest launch of a ballistic missile.
Funakoshi Takehiro, the Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at Japan's Foreign Ministry, Sung Kim, the US Special Representative for North Korea, and Kim Gunn, Seoul's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, spoke over the phone on Thursday morning.
The talks came after North Korea launched what Japan says was likely to have been an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The three shared the view that North Korea's repeated missile launches at an unprecedented pace and manner pose an urgent threat to regional security and constitute a clear, grave challenge to the international community.
They agreed to work together to strengthen regional deterrence and in negotiations at the United Nations with the aim of fully denuclearizing the North in line with Security Council sanctions.