Seoul, Washington, Tokyo discuss Pyongyang nuke test

Deputy defence ministers of South Korea, the US and Japan on Friday held a video teleconference to share information on North Korea's nuclear test.

Attending the conference were Yoo Jeh-Seung, South Korea's deputy minister for policy, US assistant secretary of defence for Asian and Pacific security affairs David Shear and Japanese director-general of defence policy bureau Satoshi Maeda, Xinhua reported.

The three deputy ministers agreed that Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test was in clear breach of the UN Security Council resolutions and a serious threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

Re-affirming that North Korea has not been, and will not be, accepted as a nuclear state, they agreed to maintain close cooperation in sharing information on Pyongyang's nuclear threats.

Seoul and Tokyo share military intelligence through Washington as the two countries failed to strike a deal on sharing bilateral intelligence in 2012 due to negative sentiment among South Koreans about signing such a deal with the former colonial ruler.