North Korean threat still priority in DC, Seoul, Tokyo

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's tough talk over the weekend about Chinese cyber warfare capabilities grabbed headlines around the world. But Hagel and military leaders from Japan and South Korea also took a hardline stance on North Korea's "provocations." /AP photo via wbur.org

North Korea has yet again fallen off the radar screen at most mainstream media outlets. But the Hermit Nation's totalitarian regime is still very much on the mind of officials in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.

The Pentagon released a pair of prepared statements over the weekend after U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met with his counterparts in South Korea and Japan.

Here's the full text of Pentagon Press Secretary George Little's prepared statement on Hagel's meeting with South Korean Minister of Defense Kim Kwan-jin:

"U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Republic of Korea Minister of Defense Kim Kwan-jin met June 1 during the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
 
"Secretary Hagel and Minister Kim discussed the security situation on the Korean peninsula, the advancement of the U.S.-ROK Alliance and the importance of trilateral security cooperation with Japan. They discussed the North Korea threat and agreed that enhanced collaboration to deter further provocations was necessary. They also discussed the need to upgrade Alliance capabilities in the coming years.

"The two defense leaders agreed that the U.S.-ROK Alliance is one of the most [successful in] modern history, and that it must be further strengthened in light of the North Korean threat and other regional and global security challenges."

Here are excerpts from a "joint statement" the Pentagon released after Hagel had trilateral meetings with Kim Kwan-jin and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera:

"The three ministers expressed their common view that North Korea's nuclear and missile program and continued acts of provocation, including a long-range ballistic missile launch in December 2012 and a nuclear test in February 2013, are serious threats that undermine not only the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula but also those of Northeast Asia and around the world.

"The three ministers strongly called for North Korea to comply with the obligations pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094, including the abandonment of all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear program, and they emphasized the importance of the steadfast implementation of the resolutions. Additionally, the three ministers expressed their support for the UNSC resolutions, in which the UNSC expresses its determination to take further significant measures in the event of [an] additional North Korean missile launch or nuclear test. The three ministers affirmed that they will continue their collaboration to deter North Korean threats of nuclear and missile development and further provocative acts."