Japanese, US and South Korean officials condemn the North’s weapons plans but urge dialogue

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese, U.S. and South Korean senior officials have condemned North Korea for its recent ICBM-class ballistic missile launches. At a meeting in Japan, they vowed to step up their trilateral cooperation to strengthen deterrence and sanctions against the North, while stressing the need for dialogue with Pyongyang. The U.S. special representative for North Korea says the U.S. is “working hard” to gather information about an American soldier who fled to the North. Kim and his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Funakoshi and South Korea’s Kim Gunn are also discussing their leaders’ summit next month in the United States.