TOKYO, November 13. /TASS/. The US, South Korea and Japan have never been as close as they are now on the North Korean issue over Pyongyang's ‘provocative behaviour’, US President Joe Biden said, according to Reuters, after a trilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol.

The US president noted that Seoul and Tokyo were "critical allies" who shared Washington's concerns about Pyongyang's missile launches.

For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that the trilateral summit was taking place at the right time, since North Korea was committing "unprecedented provocations". According to him, Japan wants to strengthen relations with the US and South Korea even more.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said that the trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington was a bastion of peace and stability in the region. North Korea has conducted more than 30 missile launches since the beginning of the year.