Japan, U.S., S. Korea Agree on Closer Cooperation on N. Korean Missiles

Tokyo, Sept. 14 (Jiji Press)--Japanese, U.S. and South Korean officials agreed at a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday to enhance three-way cooperation in the wake of North Korea's latest missile tests. In the first trilateral working-level meeting since June, Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, expressed concern over a new long-range cruise missile that North Korea claimed it successfully tested over the weekend. Besides the missile problem, the participating officials, also including Sung Kim, U.S. special representative for North Korea, and Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, discussed Pyongyang's nuclear development and reaffirmed their countries close cooperation toward fully denuclearizing the peninsula. A Japanese government official said they specifically agreed to enhance cooperative efforts to promote dialogue with North Korea, exercise deterrence against the reclusive nation and fully impose U.N. sanctions on the country. Also at the meeting, the U.S. and South Korean envoys responded positively to Funakoshi's request for support for resolving the issue of Japanese abductees in North Korea, while South Korea's Noh underscored the need to extend humane aide to North Koreans, including support for their fight against the novel coronavirus. END