Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba said he and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have agreed to take "stern" steps if North Korea goes ahead with further provocations, such as a nuclear weapons test.
During bilateral talks Monday on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Chicago, Genba and Clinton also agreed on the need to urge China to exert its influence on Pyongyang, Genba told reporters.
Clinton told Genba the United States is well aware that Japan feels North Korean provocations are a threat and that it will continue to be engaged firmly with the defense of Japan.