US, South Korea, Japan urge North Korea to cease 'irresponsible' provocations

Senior defence officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan held trilateral talks and urged North Korea to walk away from its "destructive and reckless path" of weapons development, the US military said in a statement.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford hosted his South Korean and Japanese counterparts at the US Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii on Sunday to exchange views on North Korea's recent long-range ballistic missile and nuclear tests.

"Together they called upon North Korea to refrain from irresponsible provocations that aggravate regional tensions, and to walk away from its destructive and reckless path of development," the statement said.