US, Japan and South Korea vow unified response to threat from North

US President Joe Biden met the leaders of Japan and South Korea on Sunday (Alex Brandon/AP)

Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea have vowed a unified, co-ordinated response to North Korea’s threatening nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, with the US president declaring the three-way partnership is “even more important than it’s ever been”.

Mr Biden met separately with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol before all three sat down together on the side-lines of the East Asia Summit in Cambodia.