(VOVworld) - The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Thursday to work together to deter North Korea from engaging in submarine-launched ballistic missile tests (SLBM) and other provocative actions. 

The U.S.-Japan-Republic of Korea Trilateral Meeting at the U.S. Department of State on April 7, 2014. (State Department)

Hwang Joon-kook, Seoul's special representative for peace and security affairs on the Korean peninsula, told the press following trilateral talks with his US and Japanese counterparts, that the international community should send a strong message to deter strategic provocations like SLBM tests or satellite launches. The US envoy Sung Kim expressed Washington's very strong support for Seoul's efforts to improve inter-Korean ties. Thursday's meeting came after North Korea conducted a submarine-launched ballistic missile test last week. Pyongyang is also believed to be excavating a new tunnel at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which could be used for a fourth nuclear test.