The top military officers of Japan, the United States and South Korea have agreed to maintain "effective bilateral and multilateral security cooperation and coordination" to deal with North Korea's missile and nuclear threats.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, reaffirmed the United States' "ironclad commitment" to defend the two East Asian allies, in a meeting Thursday in Washington with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, Gen. Koji Yamazaki and Gen. Kim Seung-kyum, according to the U.S. and Japanese governments.
The talks came as North Korea has been launching ballistic missiles at an unprecedented pace since the start of this year, with speculation growing that the nation could soon carry out what would be its seventh nuclear test, and first since September 2017.