Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that he confirmed with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol the importance of security cooperation involving the United States following ballistic missile launches by North Korea.
After their first telephone conversation since Yoon was inaugurated in May, Kishida told reporters that the two leaders also agreed to maintain communication to build a "future-oriented" relationship between Japan and South Korea.
Earlier in the day, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles from near Pyongyang. On Tuesday, the nuclear-armed country launched a ballistic missile over the Japanese archipelago for the first time in five years.