South Korean, Japanese, US militaries to mount pressure on Pyongyang

Seoul, Sep 20 (IANS) Military representatives from South Korea, Japan and the US on Wednesday laid emphasis on maintaining pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme.

This came a day after US President Donald Trump threatened to "totally destroy" the Asian country.

International Policy Deputy Director General Park Chul-kyun, Japan's Defense Ministry Policy Director Taro Yamato and Andrew Winternitz, the US Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia, held a trilateral video conference, confirmed Seoul's Defense Ministry spokesperson, Efe reported.

They underlined the severity of the last missile test carried out by North Korea on September 15 during which it fired a medium-range missile that travelled about 3,700 km and flew over northern Japan.

They agreed on the need to maintain maximum pressure on Kim Jong-un's regime and strengthen military cooperation among the three allies in the face of repeated provocations by Pyongyang.

However, none made any direct reference to Trump's belligerent message to the United Nations meeting.

North Korea's repeated arms tests have resulted in two new UN sanctions packages in 2017 and the US administration's belligerent tone has enormously elevated tension on the Korean peninsula over the last year.

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