South Korea warns North Korea about Japan-US joint defence plan

Japan's Defense Agency said Friday that a high-resolution radar that can detect a ballistic missile has been deployed at a base in northern Japan.

Photo: South Korea warns North Korea about Japan-US joint defence plan

South Korea warns North Korea about Japan-US joint defence plan

In Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer signed documents about cooperation on ballistic missile defense development, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In Seoul, Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok told a parliamentary committee, "It seems clear that even if North Korea fires a missile, the United States would not make a compromise."

Washington, however, has refused, and insists it will only meet the North amid six-nation talks aimed at ridding Pyongyang of its nuclear weapons program.

U.S. officials also have warned North Korea that a missile launch could have serious repercussions, the AP reports.

A top Pentagon official said Thursday in Washington that a missile launch would be "a provocation and a dangerous action" that would spur the United States to take an unspecified response.

The concerns have prompted China and Russia also to warn the North against a missile launch.