U.S., S.Korea, Japan envoys meet as N.Korea appears to prepare nuclear test

Kim Gunn, South Korea's new special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, his U.S. counterpart Sung Kim and Japanese counterpart Takehiro Funakoshi pose for photographs before their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, June 3, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool

Officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan met in Seoul on Friday to prepare for "all contingencies" amid signs North Korea is preparing to conduct a nuclear test for the first time since 2017.

U.S. Special Representative Sung Kim met his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Kim Gunn and Funakoshi Takehiro, after a U.S. assessment that the North was preparing its Punggye-ri test site for what would be its seventh nuclear test.