The top military officers from the United States, South Korea and Japan said they agreed at a meeting on Wednesday to step up information-sharing and coordination of security efforts in light of increasing North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
The three chiefs of defense issued a joint statement calling North Korea's fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and Sunday's "long range missile launch" direct violations of UN resolutions and "serious provocations against the international community."
US Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, met in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano, head of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, while Army General Lee Sun-Jin, chairman of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined them by video teleconference.