Abe, Park and Obama prepare to discuss N.Korea in Washington

The heads of government of Japan, South Korea and the United States are preparing for a trilateral summit in Washington next month, which would focus on recent arms tests by North Korea, Yomiuri daily reported Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the presidents of South Korea and the United States, Park Geunhye and Barack Obama respectively, are expected to meet on the sidelines of the fourth edition of the biannual Nuclear Security Summit which will be held this year in Washington, between March 31 and April 1.

The leaders could debate the possibility of strengthening mutual cooperation in security in the context of North Korea’s recent tests in violation of U.N. guidelines, sources close to the matter told the Japanese daily.

The last time the three held a trilateral summit was in March 2014 in The Hague, where the last edition of the Nuclear Security Summit was held.

The latest tests by the Kim Jongun regime has increased tension in the Korean peninsula and Japan.

On Sunday, North Korea launched a rocket carrying a satellite into space an action the U.N. suspects to be a disguised missile test.

The launch came a month after North Korea announced it had conducted its fourth nuclear test, in which it is believed to have detonated a fission bomb for the first time, on Jan. 6.