Korea-Japan to closely coordinate on countering N. Korean provocations

한일 정상, 북핵 도발 대응 긴밀 협력.. 위안부 합의로 공동 대응 토대 강화 Let's kick things off in Vientiane where the ASEAN and related summits are currently underway. Following her summit talks with U.S. President Barack Obama on her first day in the Laotian capital... tonight... South Korean President Park Geun-hye sat down with her Japanese counterpart... to discuss North Korea. Our Song Ji-sun is traveling with the presidential press corps; she joins us live from Vientiane. Jisun, it's President Park with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tonight. "Conn-young, the two leaders sat down for talks for the first time in five months after meeting at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. As widely expected, their talks were centered on countering North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations, as advancements shown in the regime's recent missile launches pose a serious threat to the safety of both nations and the region." At Wednesday's summit, President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged Pyongyang's advanced missile capabilities... and agreed to closely coordinate to counter any threat from the North. Japan described Pyongyang's latest missile launches "unforgivable violence." Just two weeks after North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missile fell in Japan's air defense identification zone,... a mid-range missile reached Japan's exclusive economic zone on Monday when the G20 Summit was underway in Hangzhou, China. South Korea and Japan said that together with their ally, the United States, the three countries will strongly counter North Korea's provocations under close coordination. The leaders also followed up on last year's landmark agreement between Seoul and Tokyo over Japan's wartime sexual slavery issue. With Tokyo transferring one billion yen, or roughly 9.8 million U.S. dollars, a week ago,... to a Seoul-based foundation to help surviving victims, the two sides reviewed implementation of the agreement. The leaders also vowed to step up the momentum of improving bilateral ties while setting their eyes for future-oriented relations. "Following the agreement reached last year on resolving Japan's wartime sex slavery issue, we have set the foundation to jointly counter challenges while improving bilateral relations. I hope the two countries can closely cooperate in countering North Korea's provocations and work towards denuclearizing North Korea,... as Pyongyang's advancing nuclear missile capabilities are serious threats to both countries." "Following bilateral talks with her U.S. and Japanese counterparts on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, President Park has stepped up the pressure to jointly counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. The three leaders will meet again at the East Asia Summit on Thursday. Conn-young?" Joint action by the three countries vis-a-vis North Korea has been identified as key by experts... so, we expect many eyes will be on Thursday's meeting. Our Song Ji-sun live from Vientiane. Great job, Jisun. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS):   / newsarirang   Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook:   / arirangtv   Twitter:   / arirangworld   Instagram:   / arirangworld