The United States, Japan, and South Korea stated in a joint statement that they discussed conducting missile defense drills and anti-submarine operations to deter and respond to nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. The announcement came during the thirteenth round of trilateral defense talks, hosted by Washington on Friday, to exchange assessments of the security environment in the Korean Peninsula and the wider region, as well as to consult on concrete ways to enhance trilateral security cooperation, according to the joint statement.
The statement added that representatives of the three countries "urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) to immediately cease all destabilizing activities... and reaffirmed that any nuclear test by North Korea, if conducted, would be met with a strong and resolute response from the international community." This follows Pyongyang's announcement on Friday of a test of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile in a development aimed at a "radical enhancement" of its forces, which experts say would facilitate the launch of missiles with no warning.
