The top diplomats of Japan, the United States and South Korea have strongly condemned North Korea over its recent launch of a spy satellite.

Japan's Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko and her US and South Korean counterparts, Antony Blinken and Park Jin, held talks by phone early Saturday, Japan time.

During the 20-minute talk, they said North Korea's satellite launch on Tuesday is a flagrant violation of UN Security Council resolutions which prohibits any launch using ballistic missile technology.

They once again shared the view that ballistic missile launches by North Korea constitute a grave and imminent threat to the regional security and pose a clear and serious challenge to the international community.

The ministers reaffirmed that they will work closely together toward the complete denuclearization of the North. They also cited efforts such as the enhancement of regional deterrence and responses at the UN Security Council.

They also discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict. Kamikawa expressed her respect to the US and other related countries for their efforts to help realize a pause in the conflict and the release of hostages.

Kamikawa told reporters that she expects Israel and Hamas will implement the deal of allowing the release of hostages and the pause of fighting to continue.