MADRID, 19 March (EUROPA PRESS) –
The G7 foreign ministers issued a statement this Sunday condemning the latest North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test carried out early Sunday.
Members of the group “condemn in the strongest terms the launch of another intercontinental ballistic missile by North Korea on 16 March” and denounced that it represents a disruption of international and regional peace and security.
In addition, the G7 foreign ministers recalled that last year, Pyongyang “intensified its escalation actions with a record number of ballistic missile launches” and its “irresponsible and destabilizing rhetoric on the use of nuclear weapons”.
The G7 members therefore called on North Korea to “completely, verifiable and irreversibly abandon its nuclear weapons, active nuclear programs and any other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs” and abide by all its obligations. Obligations under UN Security Council resolutions.
“North Korea cannot and never will have nuclear weapons state status under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. We urge North Korea to engage in denuclearization diplomacy and accept repeated offers of dialogue by Japan, the United States, and the Republic of Korea,” referring to South Korea. they added to.
They also complain of “the sharp contrast between the frequency of overt violations of UN Security Council resolutions and the passivity of the UN Security Council,” which they attribute to “blocking by some members”.
North Korea’s “reckless” behavior requires a “unified response” from the international community, including action at the UN Security Council. “We urge all members of the UN to fully and effectively implement all UN Security Council resolutions,” they added.
In addition, the G7 expressed “concern” over the “difficult humanitarian situation” in North Korea and pledged to work together to “ensure peace and stability and maintain a law-based international order on the Korean peninsula”.
North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan this Sunday, as confirmed by the South Korean Chiefs of Staff. Pyongyang advocates such tests as a response to the joint military exercises South Korea and the United States are conducting these days.
The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the EU Foreign Policy High Representative Josep Borrell.
Source: Noti Merica
