Top South Korean, US, Japanese and Australian army officials talked over the ways of deterring missile and nuclear threats from North Korea, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Monday, citing the country's army.
South Korea's Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su, US's Army Pacific commander Gen. Charles Flynn, Japan's Gen. Yasunori Morishita and Australia's Lt. Gen. Simon Stuart discussed the issue during the Land Forces Pacific Symposium (LANPAC) that took place in Hawaii on Wednesday, the news agency said.
"They assessed the current regional security situation, and held in-depth discussions on deterring and responding to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, and ways for multilateral security cooperation to ensure stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region," the South Korean army was quoted as saying.
The parties agreed on expanding multilateral exchanges and cooperation and high-level exchanges, the army added. Park also met with the next head of the UK army, Gen. Roly Walker, and the chief of Malaysian army, Tan Sri Dato Muhammad Hafizuddeain bin Jantan, with whom he discussed strengthening exchanges and arms industry cooperation, the news agency wrote.
North Korea has repeatedly criticized the military alliance between the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Last September, the country's vice foreign minister reportedly called the alliance a "cancerous tumors" and further cautioned that the alliances, supported by the US, no longer hide "aggressive and chauvinistic nature."