Japan and the United States called on North Korea on Sunday to stop its provocations, while agreeing to coordinate moves with South Korea in responding to the North's bellicose rhetoric and military muscle-flexing.

In a meeting in Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also agreed on the need for North Korea to take "concrete steps" toward denuclearization.

The meeting, coming as North Korea ratcheted up tensions by threatening war on the United States and its allies, was meant to highlight the commitment of Japan and the United States to their security alliance and to pressure North Korea to ease tensions.