The top security advisers of South Korea, the United States and Japan have agreed to pursue stern measures against North Korea should the regime conduct its seventh nuclear test.

National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han told reporters on Thursday that the collective response by the three countries will be markedly different from those of the past if the North carries out a new nuclear test.

Adding that the three security chiefs agreed that the occurrence of another test is not to be taken lightly, he said they will reject the mindset that a new test is just a seventh one.

The trio also agreed to strengthen cooperation on the economic security front, committing to a unified response to supply chain disruptions.

Kim met with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Jake Sullivan and Takeo Akiba at the U.S. Inco-Pacific Command in Hawaii on Thursday for the first such gathering since the launch of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

They also exchanged views on the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which excludes electric vehicles assembled outside North America from tax incentives. According to Kim, Sullivan said that the new law isn't limited to EVs, but should be looked at as a reorganization of the supply network among liberal economies.