US pledges nuclear defence for Japan and South Korea after North Korea missile test into Sea of Japan

This is an automatic summary, original reduced by 37%.

BONN: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday pledged that Washington would use the full range of its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend allies Japan and South Korea against North Korea if needed.

"The United States remains steadfast in its defence commitments to its allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, including the commitment to provide extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defence capabilities," Tillerson said in a joint statement after meeting the foreign ministers in Bonn.

North Korea has carried out repeated missile launches despite UN sanctions and last year conducted two nuclear tests in a bid to develop a weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland.

The joint statement said Tillerson, South Korea's Yun Byung-Se and Japan's Fumio Kishida "Condemned in the strongest terms" the test which was carried out in "Flagrant disregard" for multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

The United States has had a major military presence in both Japan and South Korea for decades but its defence commitment also complicates relations with China, North Korea's main ally.

Washington's recent decision to install a sophisticated THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea especially angered China which sees it as a potential threat to its own security.

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