Senior officials from Japan, the United States and South Korea agreed Thursday to use dialogue and pressure to urge North Korea to halt its suspected nuclear weapons development program in a verifiable and irreversible fashion, Japanese officials said.
Agreeing on the need to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully, the countries also confirmed that they will call for five-party dialogue incorporating Japan and South Korea as soon as possible, they said.
The agreements were made on the first day of a two-day meeting in Honolulu of the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group aimed at coordinating policies on North Korea.
The meeting began with a working lunch, followed by bilateral exchanges.