Japan, China and South Korea agreed to urge North Korea to refrain from provocation and follow UN Security Council resolutions, after its latest missile launch towards Japan early on Wednesday.
Foreign ministers from the three Asian neighbours also sought to soothe their often-testy relations, and have reached an understanding on a trilateral summit meeting in Japan this year, a Japanese official said.
“We have confirmed that we will urge North Korea to exercise self-restraint regarding its provocative action, and to observe the UN.Security Council’s resolutions,” Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a news conference after hosting the meeting with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts.
A North Korean submarine fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday that flew about 500km towards Japan, a show of improving technological capability for the isolated country that has conducted a nuclear test and as series of missile launches this year in defiance of UN sanctions.
In the face of the North Korean threat, cooperation among Japan, China and South Korea was more important than ever, Kishida said after his meeting with China’s Wang Yi and South Korea’s Yun Byung-se.
Yun promised South Korea’s support to realise a trilateral summit by year’s end, as well as to cooperate economically and to achieve a successful summit of the Group of 20 big economies next month in China.
