Anchor: Top security officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan have held emergency talks and agreed to intensify pressure against North Korea to stop its further provocations. The trilateral talks will likely help wipe out concerns that South Korea is being sidelined in discussions on North Korean issues.
Our Alannah Hill has this report.
 
Report: South Korea's presidential office said Friday that National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong and his American and Japanese counterparts, Herbert McMaster and Shotaro Yachi held a video conference on Thursday night for about an hour.
 
The top security officials recognized that the North’s continued missile launches pose a great threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, North East Asia and the world.
 
They agreed to strengthen maximum pressure to deter additional provocations by the North through UN Security Council resolutions and other measures.
 
The top officials reaffirmed that dialogue with North Korea is possible under the right conditions and that the international community needs to maintain efforts for consistent sanctions and pressure against Pyongyang in order to induce North Korea to hold talks. 
 
The three sides also agreed to continue close cooperation regarding the North’s nuclear and missile programs.
 
Chung stressed that the ultimate goal of maximum pressure and sanctions is to bring North Korea to the negotiating table and that caution is required to make sure tensions will not escalate in the region unnecessarily.
 
The video conference was held as President Moon Jae-in’s phone talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are being delayed because he is on his summer vacation.
Alannah Hill, KBS World Radio News.

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