South Korea, US, Japan to discuss North Korea issue

Seoul, July 1 (IANS) Top military officials of South Korea, the US and Japan will hold their first talks in Hawaii Wednesday to discuss North Korea's nuclear programme, media reported Tuesday.

Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Adm. Choi Yun-hee of South Korea, Gen. Martin Dempsey of the US and Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki of Japan will meet on the sidelines of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) multinational naval exercises, Xinhua reported.

It will be the first meeting among top military commanders of the three nations.

Defence ministers of the three countries meet every year on the sidelines of the Asia Security Dialogue, called the Shangri-La Dialogue.

The RIMPAC, which will start July 9, is the world's largest multinational maritime military exercise, in which the US and Pacific Rim nations participate.