Senior defense officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan on Wednesday condemned North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches and agreed to coordinate on how to deal with its provocations, the defense ministry said.

Wee Seung-ho, deputy minister for policy, held a video conference with David F. Helvey, US assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, and Satoshi Maeda, director general for defense policy.
 

They strongly condemned the North's ballistic missile test on Monday as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions which prohibit the country from carrying out launches using ballistic missile technology, the ministry said in a statement.

They also underscored that the North's missile program poses a "grave threat" to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, and vowed to strengthen trilateral cooperation to counter Pyongyang's military ambitions.

On Monday, Pyongyang test-fired four ballistic missiles, which Seoul's military assumed to be "improved versions" of Scud missiles, toward the East Sea in an apparent protest against the ongoing military drills between Seoul and Washington. (Yonhap)