N. Korea to be on agenda of U.S.-Japan security talks: State Dept.

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- The continuing threat posed by North Korea will be on the agenda of an annual U.S.-Japan security dialogue to be held here next week, a state department spokesperson said Thursday.

Ned Price made the remark while noting the North may hold "additional provocations" in days and weeks ahead.

"We face a threat and a series of challenges from the DPRK that will of course be on the agenda as well, especially as the DPRK has accelerated its provocations, may have plans for additional provocations in the days and weeks ahead," the department spokesperson told a daily press briefing, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Price said the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee Meeting will be held in Washington on Wednesday, involving Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts.

The so-called Two Plus Two meeting will be held two days before U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hold a bilateral summit at the White House next Friday.

North Korea fired a record number of ballistic missiles last year, launching some 70 ballistic missiles, including eight intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The country's previous annual record of ballistic missiles fired was 25.

Seoul and Washington have warned that Pyongyang may also conduct what will be its seventh nuclear test at any time, saying the country appears to have completed all preparations for a nuclear test.

North Korea conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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