Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has stressed the need for South Korea, the U.S. and Japan to set up a joint missile defense system to address North Korea’s missile threats.

Dempsey made the remark during an interview with the American Forces Press Service aboard a military plane en route to Washington following his trip to Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo.

He said that during his trip to China he agreed with Chinese officials to expand bilateral cooperation in the military field. During his trips to South Korea and Japan, Dempsey said he discussed ways to boost the joint response capability toward the North’s continuous missile threats.

Dempsey stressed that now is the time for the U.S., South Korea and Japan to unite their military sources to build a joint ballistic missile defense system, noting he proposed the idea to Seoul and Tokyo.