Defense chiefs of South Korea, U.S., Japan agree on further cooperation against North Korea

한미일 국방 "北미사일 경보훈련•대잠전 훈련 지속실시" The defense chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan have agreed to coordinate their efforts to resolve tensions with North Korea through pressure and diplomacy. They also vowed to maintain... a high state of readiness against any further provocations from Pyongyang,... by holding joint military drills. Yu Joonhee reports. Seoul's Defense Minister Song Young-moo,... met his U.S. and Japanese counterparts... James Mattis and Itsunori Onodera,... on the sidelines of the ASEAN security forum in the Philippines on Monday. There,... the three defense chiefs agreed to support trilateral efforts... to address the North Korean nuclear issue through maximum pressure. They also recognized the need to heighten their military posture... by continuing to hold trilateral, ballistic missile warning and anti-submarine warfare drills... in light of the regime's growing threat. Seoul's defense chief stressed however,... that South Korea does not want to engage in conflict with the North... and that it was prioritizing a peaceful solution to the crisis. But he warned that,... if Pyongyang were to use military force on his country,... South Korea would be forced to take strong action. (Korean) "We understand the weight of engaging in a war as such. We would make all efforts necessary to resolve the issue in a diplomatic and economic way." Tokyo's defense minister in comparison,... adopted a much tougher tone on Pyongyang,... for its recent provocations including a pair of missile launches that flew over Japanese territory. Onodera sounded the alarm on North Korea's growing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities... and endorsed Washington's view to consider "all options" on the table. (English) "The threat posed by North Korea has grown to the unprecedented, critical and imminent level. Therefore, we have to take calibrated and different responses to meet with that level of threat." Other ASEAN ministers at the meeting also expressed concerns... about escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. They called on all parties to exercise restraint... and work towards resuming dialogue for the peaceful denuclearization of North Korea. Yu Joonhee, Arirang News. Arirang News Facebook:   / arirangtvnews   ------------------------------------------------------------ [Subscribe Arirang Official YouTube] ARIRANG TV:    / arirang   ARIRANG RADIO:    / music180arirang   ARIRANG NEWS:    / arirangnews   ARIRANG K-POP:    / arirangworld   ARIRANG ISSUE:    / arirangtoday   ARIRANG CULTURE:    / arirangkorean   ARIRANG FOOD & TRAVEL :    / arirangfoodtravel   ------------------------------------------------------------ [Visit Arirang TV Official Pages] Facebook:   / arirangtv   Twitter:   / arirangworld   Instagram:   / arirangworld   Homepage: http://www.arirang.com ------------------------------------------------------------ [Arirang K-Pop] YouTube:    / arirangworld   Facebook:   / arirangkpop   Google+: http://plus.google.com/+arirangworld