S. Korea, U.S. and Japan defense officials agree to boost cooperation...

한미일 합참 긴급 화상회의…北 핵•미사일 위협 평가 Top military brass from South Korea, the United States and Japan spoke together on Tuesday about North Korea's latest missile test. As our Kim Hyun-bin reports, they agreed to promote substantive trilateral defense cooperation to counter North Korea's threats. South Korea's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lee Sun-jin, held a video conference with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts on Tuesday to evaluate the recent ballistic missile launch from the North. Pyongyang fired a mid-range ballistic missile last weekend, marking its eighth missile launch this year. Chairman Lee pointed out that North Korea's nuclear and missile development poses a grave threat to the peace and stability of not just the Korean peninsula but the world, and stressed the need for closer coordination between the three allies. His U.S. counterpart Joseph Dunford responded that Washington maintains a posture of "fight tonight." The three countries also expressed their desire to enhance trilateral defense communication and cooperation. Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency reported on Monday that Kim Jong-un has approved the official deployment of the new intermediate-range missile fired on Sunday, the Pukguksong-2, calling it a successful strategic weapon. According to the South Korean military the ground-to-ground Pukguksong-2 flew more than 500 kilometers into the East Sea. This is the second missile launch since South Korean President Moon Jae-in's inauguration on May 10th and is likely to test the new administration's dual approach to the regime of denuclearization and dialogue. Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang News. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS):   / newsarirang   Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook:   / arirangtv   Twitter:   / arirangworld   Instagram:   / arirangworld