Japan and the U.S. agreed Friday that they and South Korea should consult closely with each other in dealing with the standoff over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons if and when the United Nations Security Council takes it up.
In a meeting at the Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and visiting U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton agreed on the need to resolve the crisis peacefully through diplomatic measures, ministry officials said.
The meeting took place in the wake of Bolton's remark Wednesday in Seoul that the International Atomic Energy Agency may refer the issue to the U.N. Security Council for consideration as early as this weekend.