S. Korea, U.S., Japan vow 'maximum pressure' on N. Korea

SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Wednesday to ratchet up pressure on North Korea for its continued nuclear and missile development, according to South Korea's defense ministry.

In a trilateral video conference, the regional powers' working-level defense officials strongly condemned the North's latest ballistic missile launch last Friday.

The Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, fired from Pyongyang, overflew the territory of northern Japan and landed in waters east of the nation.

They stressed that such an act can never be pardoned as it poses a very serious and grave threat to the regional peace and stability, the ministry said.

The three parties agreed to maintain close cooperation against the North's saber-rattling and apply "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang, it added.

The U.S. reassured its "ironclad" security commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan.

The talks involved Park Chul-kyun, deputy director general for international policy at the South Korean ministry; Andrew Winternitz, U.S. acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia; and Taro Yamato, director for defense policy at Japan's defense ministry.

lcd@yna.co.kr
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