Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to hold phone talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday, two days after North Korea launched a ballistic missile in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, Japanese government sources said.

The leaders of the two nations are expected to confirm close cooperation in response to Pyongyang's military threat, rekindled Tuesday by the first firing of a ballistic missile over the Japanese archipelago in five years, the sources said Wednesday.

North Korea's latest missile launch came after Japan, South Korea and the United States on Friday held anti-submarine drills in international waters adjacent to the Sea of Japan, the first such training in five years.