The White House’s Jake Sullivan, along with his counterparts at a trilateral meeting in Tokyo, also discussed North Korea’s “illicit nuclear and missile programs and most recent provocations and identified next steps to strengthen their cooperation,” it said.

The statement came shortly before South Korea’s military said that Korea had launched a ballistic missile after Pyongyang earlier issued a protest against live fire drills carried out by South Korea with the United States.

“Our trilateral partnership is now stronger and has more potential than ever before,” the U.S. statement said.

Technology, energy security and “countering economic coercion,” were also discussed ahead of a summit with the three nation’s leaders hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden in coming months, the White House added.

On China, Sullivan along with Japanese National Security Secretariat Secretary General Akiba Takeo and South Korean National Security Office Director Cho Tae-yon “discussed opportunities for coordination in the East China Sea and South China Sea and emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” it said.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Hugh Lawson)