Japan, South Korea and the US on Wednesday reiterated their shared view that North Korea's continued nuclear and ballistic missile programs constitute a grave and imminent threat to the regional security and pose a clear and serious challenge to the international community, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. During their phone talks, Hiroyuki Namazu, Director General of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Cho Koo-rae, South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister for Strategy and Intelligence, and Daniel Kritenbrink, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs also reaffirmed their continued grave concern over the development of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, the ministry said in a press release. Namazu, Cho, Kritenbrink agreed to continue to work closely together toward the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions, including through enhancement of deterrence and response capabilities s uch as trilateral security cooperation, and international collaboration. On Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened to use nuclear weapons if the country's enemies attempt to use armed force against it, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. In his speech, Kim also said Pyongyang would accelerate its move to become a military and nuclear superpower in a bid to bolster its nuclear deterrence. Source: Kuwait News Agency