Japan, Britain to hold joint drill

Japan and Britain will hold their first joint fighter drill in October, an official said.

The agreement reached between Japan's defence minister and a senior commander of Britain's Royal Air Force on Friday follows their decision during the "two-plus-two" foreign and defence ministry talks in Tokyo last month, The Japan Times reported.

Both sides also reaffirmed cooperation in dealing with North Korea following Pyongyang's recent rocket launch, widely viewed as a banned test of ballistic missile technology.

"Our country cannot tolerate (this action). In cooperation with Britain, we would like to strongly urge North Korea to exercise restraint," the Japanese minister said.