US, Japan, South Korea hold talks, “strongly condemn” North Korea's missile launch

The joint statement by the three countries was issued on Friday when US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell met with Japan's Deputy Foreign Minister Masataka Okano and South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun in Little Washington, Virginia.

The officials agreed to continue close coordination on North Korea and other challenges to regional and global stability, and planned to establish a new coordinating body to make their policies more coherent.

US Deputy Secretary of State Campbell said ahead of the meeting at his farmhouse that the proposed body would likely be “some sort of secretariat,” Kyodo reported.

The three allies recognised the importance of “opposing illegal maritime claims in the South China Sea” and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. “Our basic position on Taiwan remains unchanged and we call for a peaceful resolution of issues in the Strait,” the joint statement said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday inspected an artillery demonstration exercise involving “super-large multiple rocket” launchers aimed at South Korea, Pyongyang's state media reported.

The development comes a day after South Korea said North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of ​​Japan on Thursday, and days after Pyongyang failed to launch a satellite rocket.

North Korea continues to pursue its nuclear and missile programs despite criticism from the United States, Japan, South Korea, and other regional allies and partners.

The United States has condemned the launches carried out by North Korea using ballistic missile technology on May 27 and May 29, which it said were “in direct violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCR).”

The US State Department said the launches reflect North Korea's continued “reckless behaviour” which “poses a serious threat to the Korean Peninsula, the region, and international peace and security and undermines the global nonproliferation regime.”

Meanwhile, the US and Japan have stressed the importance of a “new era of strategic global cooperation” between Washington and Tokyo, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement

Campbell also met with Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Okano Masataka and USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman on Friday in Washington, DC for the first U.S.-Japan Strategic Diplomacy and Development Dialogue.

The dialogue was announced by US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Kishida during their visit to Washington DC on 10 April.

The two countries reiterated the US and Japan's commitments to collaborate with developing partners to address shared challenges. They also emphasized the importance of quality infrastructure and sustainability to promote economic prosperity for all.