The defense chiefs of the United States and Japan agreed on Thursday that North Korean missile launches are "unnecessarily provocative" and that the regime should stop such tests. 

Chief Pentagon Spokesperson for the Department of Defense Jonathan Hoffman told reporters at a briefing that U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono spoke on the phone Thursday to discuss North Korea issues.  

During the phone call, which followed North Korea's test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile(SLBM) on Wednesday, Esper and Kono agreed that North Korean missile tests are unnecessarily provocative and do not set the stage for diplomacy.

The spokesperson said the two officials also agreed that North Korea should cease such tests. 

North Korea on Thursday claimed it had carried out a successful test of the “Pukguksong-3," a new-type of SLBM.

[Photo : YONHAP News]