South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy Kim Gun meets with his US and Japanese counterparts Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi in Seoul. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy Kim Gun, and his US and Japanese counterparts Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, held the meeting after Japanese news agency Kyodo reported that Pyongyang has notified Japan of a plan to launch a satellite between May 31 and June 11.

According to the South Korea foreign ministry’s press release, the envoys have strongly urged North Korea to refrain from illegal launches that threaten regional peace, stressing that any launch using ballistic missile technology is a contravention of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and cannot be justified in any way.

The three agreed to closely cooperate to ensure that the launch by North Korea will be met with a stern, unified international response.

Pyongyang says it is launching first military spy satellite next month in response to US military actions.