Russia's deepening military cooperation with North Korea has underlined the need for Japan to forge closer ties with NATO as regional security threats become increasingly intertwined, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Reuters, Paralel.Az reports.

In written remarks ahead of his attendance at a NATO summit in Washington DC this week, Kishida also signalled concern over Beijing's alleged role in aiding Moscow's two-year-old war in Ukraine, although he did not name China.

"The securities of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific are inseparable, and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its deepened military cooperation with North Korea are strong reminders of that," Kishida said.

"Japan is determined to strengthen its cooperation with NATO and its partners," he added.

The world, the Japanese leader said, should not tolerate attempts by some countries to disrupt the established international order and reiterated a warning that Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow. He also urged cooperation to confront new security threats that transcend geographical boundaries, such as cyber-attacks and conflicts in space.

South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, which along with Japan are known as the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4), are also attending the July 10-11 meeting with NATO leaders.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told Reuters this week that he planned to discuss the threat Pyongyang poses to Europe by deepening its Russia ties.