The military chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold talks this week to coordinate their response to North Korea's long-range rocket launch, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday.

The talks will be held Thursday among Gen. Lee Sun-jin, chairman of the JCS, and his American and Japanese counterparts -- Gen. Joseph Dunford and Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano -- in Hawaii, the JCS said. Lee will participate via video from South Korea.

"The three countries' JCS chairmen plan to hold close consultations on trilateral intelligence sharing and coordination measures in the wake of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," the JCS said.

The three sides have boosted their defense cooperation following North Korea's fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and rocket launch on Sunday.

The JCS chairmen had planned to hold talks this month over the nuclear test but postponed them amid signs the North was preparing for a rocket launch.

North Korea claims its rockets are designed to put Earth observation satellites into orbit, but the outside world views them as a disguise for testing ballistic missile technology.

The communist North is banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions from conducting launches using that technology. (Yonhap)