Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada held a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jong-sup, while visiting Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue, an Asian defense summit.
"Based on the necessity of responding to the severe security environment in the region such as North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, as well as global challenges, the two Ministers concurred on the importance of promoting Japan-ROK and Japan-ROK-US defense cooperation," the ministry said in a statement.
Both ministers strongly condemned the North's missile launches as they violated relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and agreed that it was necessary to develop trusting relations between the defense ministries of the two countries, as well as with the US.
On May 31, North Korea made an unsuccessful attempt to put the Malligyong-1 military reconnaissance satellite mounted on the Chollima-1 carrier rocket into orbit.
South Korea condemned the launch of the DPRK satellite as a provocation and a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and the country's foreign ministry warned Pyongyang about "retribution" for attempts to launch the satellite.
On Friday, Anna Yevstigneeva, the Russian deputy ambassador to the UN, said that the root cause of tensions on the Korean Peninsula was the desire of the US and its allies to increase pressure on the DPRK.