The U.S. and Japanese defense chiefs stressed the need for bolstered trilateral military cooperation with South Korea on Thursday as the pair met for talks just a day after a failed North Korean rocket carrying a spy satellite briefly triggered an emergency alert for Okinawa Prefecture.
The talks between Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Tokyo kicked off with the pair strongly condemning the North Korean launch.
“North Korea’s dangerous and destabilizing nuclear and missile programs threaten peace and stability in the region and violate international law. We stand with our Japanese and ROK allies in the face of North Korea's continued provocations, including yesterday's claimed space launch,” Austin said during a joint news conference with Hamada.