SINGAPORE (Kyodo) Japan and the United States do not recognize North Korea as a nuclear power despite its recent nuclear and missile tests, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said after bilateral talks Saturday with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Hamada and Gates were later joined by South Korean National Defense Minister Lee Sang Hee for their first trilateral defense ministerial talks, with the three agreeing to cooperate closely in tackling Pyongyang's nuclear threats.
In a meeting held on the sidelines of an international security dialogue in Singapore, Hamada and Gates also reaffirmed that should North Korea launch an attack on Japan or South Korea, the United States would retaliate.
The Japanese and U.S. defense ministers also pledged to continue diplomatic efforts toward North Korea through such frameworks as the United Nations and the six-party denuclearization talks, Hamada said.
At the trilateral meeting, Hamada, Gates and Lee expressed commitment to cooperation between their countries in handling North Korean issues but did not reveal to reporters much detail on how they plan to counter Pyongyang's provocations.
The three also agreed to urge the North to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.