The top military chiefs of the US, South Korea, and Japan met in Seoul Friday, as President Donald Trump ups the pressure over defense spending and trade.

South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold trilateral ministerial talks on the sidelines of a multilateral gathering in Malaysia on Friday, Seoul officials said, with steep U.S. tariffs, and other shared regional and global issues likely to be high on the agenda.

By Jeff Mason and Leika Kihara WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) -Powerhouse Asian economies Japan and South Korea said on Tuesday they would try to negotiate with the U.S. to soften the impact of sharply higher tariffs that President Donald Trump now plans to impose from the start of August.