South Korea, the U.S. and Japan issued a joint statement calling for the suspension of North Korea's nuclear program during the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) held in Vienna on Friday.

Seoul's ambassador to Austria Ham Sang-wook read the trilateral statement before the representatives of 178 nations at the conference, urging denuclearization measures from Pyongyang.

This marks the first joint address by the three allies on a multilateral diplomatic stage addressing North Korea's nuclear issue.

The three sides expressed concern that the issue has persisted for three decades and called on the regime to stop its nuclear development and provocative ballistic missile launches and take concrete steps toward denuclearization.

They also took note of the fact that IAEA members adopted a resolution to this effect by consensus without a vote, which they said underscores the international community's grave concern over the nuclear issue.

The three countries also said the international community must not and will no longer tolerate North Korea's illegal and irresponsible nuclear and missile development programs while urging the North to return to talks stressing the door to dialogue remains open with no conditions attached.

The IAEA resolution adopted Friday urges Pyongyang to abide by its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions. 

The North declared its withdrawal from the Non Proliferation Treaty in 2003. The IAEA urges treaty signatories to implement safeguards on preventing nuclear substances from being used militarily but with the North's rejection of IAEA activities, onsite verification of its nuclear facilities has not taken place since 2009.