Army chiefs of S. Korea, US, Japan discuss N. Korea

The top army officers of South Korea, the United States and Japan exchanged their views on North Korea on Tuesday at a meeting held on the sidelines of the 10th Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference, South Korea's Army said.

Gen. Kim Yong-woo, the South Korean Army chief of staff, met with his American and Japanese counterpart -- Gen. Mark A. Milley and Gen. Koji Yamazaki -- in Seoul.

"(They) assessed the security conditions on the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations," the Army said. "And they shared their perceptions of North Korea's threats."
 

They also had a broad range of discussions on ways to expand military cooperation among the three sides, it added.

On Wednesday, meanwhile, Kim plans to hold bilateral talks with Lt. Gen. You Haitao, deputy commander of the Chinese Army, who's leading the country's delegation to the PACC.

You's visit here came amid diplomatic stand-offs between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of the THAAD US missile defense system in South Korea.

The conference has brought together army chiefs of staff and senior commanders from 29 Indo-Asia-Pacific countries under the theme of "Unity of Effort: Building Civil-Military Partnerships in Land Force Response to Non-Traditional Security Threats." (Yonhap)