AP, TOKYOSenior officials from Japan, the US and South Korea yesterday agreed to step up pressure on North Korea as they stuck to their goal of persuading the communist state to abandon its nuclear weapons. “We will not accept North Korea as nuclear state; we will not accept North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons, period,” Blinken said. “We are focused on increasing the pressure on North Korea with one purpose: to bring it back to the table to negotiate in good faith. Meanwhile, South Korea said it plans to restart talks with Japan on a military intelligence sharing agreement to better cope with threats from North Korea. A bilateral agreement between South Korea and Japan would enable a quicker transfer of information between the two countries in urgent situations.

Source: Taipei Times October 27, 2016 16:05 UTC