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WASHINGTON - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates will meet his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Singapore Saturday to discuss North Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The meeting was already planned as part of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue -- a meeting of largely Pacific-region defence ministers -- but is set to centre on Pyongyang's moves that have drawn global condemnation.
"Undoubtedly, developments in North Korea over the weekend will be a focus of that conversation," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.
The trilateral meeting between Gates, Japan's Yasukazu Hamada and South Korea's Lee Sang-Hee, will be the first between the defence ministers.
In April, Pyongyang test-fired a long-range rocket that critics say was in fact a ballistic missile, and on Monday it test-fired three short-range missiles after the nuclear blast.
North Korea also reportedly fired two short-range missiles on Tuesday after its test of a nuclear device.
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to consider the options after Pyongyang's test of a nuclear device on Monday.
The nuclear test provoked condemnation from across the world, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling on the UN Security Council to take "the necessary measures" against North Korea.
After the test the South announced it would join the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) that is aimed at curbing the trade in weapons of mass destruction -- a move Pyongyang has said would be tantamount to a declaration of war.
US President Barack Obama, whose initial overtures to the North since taking office in January have been met with official hostility from Pyongyang, condemned what he called its "reckless" atomic test.
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak and Obama, in a telephone conversation, agreed to press for a strong UN resolution against the North.
The White House said they had decided to "work closely together to seek and support a strong United Nations Security Council resolution with concrete measures to curtail North Korea's nuclear and missile activities."
- AFP /ls
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