This picture taken on Feb 18, 2023 and released from the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency on Feb 19, 2023 shows test-firing of the intercontinental ballistic missile "Hwasong-15", at Pyongyang International Airport. (PHOTO
/ KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
SEOUL/TOKYO – The United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea said in a joint statement they discussed the regularization of missile defense and anti-submarine exercises to deter and respond to what they said nuclear and missile threats from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The announcement was made at the 13th Defence Trilateral Talks held on Friday in Washington D.C. to exchange assessments of the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and broader region, as well as to consult on concrete ways to deepen trilateral security cooperation, the joint statement said.
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The representatives from the three countries "urged the DPRK to stop all destabilizing activities immediately" and "reaffirmed that a DPRK nuclear test, if conducted, would be met with a strong and resolute response from the international community," the statement said.
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The statement came after Pyongyang’s announcement on Friday that it had tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a development set to "radically promote" its forces.