By Idrees Ali
CAMP SMITH, Hawaii (Reuters) - The United States' top general met his&nbsp;South&nbsp;Korean and&nbsp;Japanese counterparts for a&nbsp;rare&nbsp;trilateral&nbsp;meeting&nbsp;in Hawaii on Tuesday, as&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;conducted its latest ballistic&nbsp;missile&nbsp;test launch.
Washington has been pressing the uneasy neighbors to work more closely to better counter rising threats from China and&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea.
Seoul and Tokyo have strained relations over disputes dating to&nbsp;Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of&nbsp;Korea.
Colonel Dave Butler, a spokesman for U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, told Reuters that the&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean launch occurred at the conclusion of the&nbsp;meeting, which had been long planned.
He said the&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean ballistic&nbsp;missile&nbsp;had been launched towards the Sea of&nbsp;Japan.
This year,&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;has test fired its first ever solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic&nbsp;missile&nbsp;and conducted a failed attempt to launch its first-ever spy satellite on a new launch vehicle. U.N. Security Council resolutions ban&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's&nbsp;use of ballistic&nbsp;missile&nbsp;technology, including for satellite&nbsp;launches.
The trilateral&nbsp;meeting&nbsp;was at Camp Smith in Hawaii and it last took place between the three uniformed&nbsp;military&nbsp;chiefs in March 2022.
North&nbsp;Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Tuesday a U.S.&nbsp;military&nbsp;spy plane had entered&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's Exclusive Economic Zone eight times.
She warned that U.S. forces would face a "very critical flight" if they continued "illegal intrusion", repeating an accusation&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;made on Monday that the U.S. had violated its airspace by conducting surveillance flights.
North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;warned that such flights may be shot down.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it appeared that&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's threats were largely bluster.
The official said&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's ground based&nbsp;missiles did not have the range to shoot down U.S. planes, which were not flying in Pyongyang's Exclusive Economic Zone as defined by international law.
"It's unlikely to manifest as a significant threat," the official said.
Milley is set to travel to&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;and&nbsp;South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;this week.
&nbsp;
(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Robert Birsel)

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US, Japan, South Korea hold rare military meeting as North Korea launches missile