TOKYO (AP) – Senior envoys from Japan, the United States and South Korea met in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss North Korea’s military and nuclear weapons development a day after Pyongyang announced plans to test its long-range missiles, demonstrating its strengths.
The meeting included US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim, Special Representative for South Korea to Korea Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Noh Kyu-duk and Japanese-Oceanian Director-General of Takehiro Funakoshi.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a news conference Tuesday that the tripartite summit had already been set up in North Korea to try to shoot, but the next day’s meeting could be “a good opportunity to confirm cooperation between the three countries and discuss recent developments in North Korea.”
Japanese officials and other experts say the North Korean shooting this weekend is “a new problem” in the region.
On Monday, the state-run Korea Central News Agency also said the weapons were projected to hit 1,500 kilometers (930 miles).
The North praised its new arrows as “the most powerful weapon,” indicating that it was designed with the intention of equipping them with nuclear weapons. North Korea says it needs nuclear weapons to put an end to so-called hostility from Washington and Seoul.
Japan and South Korea are close allies in the US presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
___
Associated Press Secretary Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, supported the report.