Photo credit: Yonhap News
The seven major countries (G7) strongly condemned North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile and ICBM launch on the 20th, local time, and urged the United Nations Security Council to take “additional serious measures.”
The G7 foreign ministers issued a statement on the afternoon of the same day, two days after North Korea’s ICBM launch, emphasizing that “North Korea’s actions demand a united and firm response from the international community, including significant additional measures from the United Nations Security Council. ”
“We urge all states to fully and effectively implement UN Security Council measures and sanctions against North Korea and to address the threat of weapons of mass destruction from North Korea as an urgent priority.”
Regarding North Korea’s series of ballistic missile provocations on the 18th, the G7 foreign ministers noted, “This reckless action clearly demonstrates North Korea’s willingness to develop and diversify its nuclear weapons and missile capabilities.”
“North Korea’s unprecedented and illegal ballistic missile launches in 2022, including multiple ICBMs and intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) that passed through Japan, pose a serious threat to regional and international peace and security and undermine world non-proliferation – wide regime.”, he criticized.
“The G7 expresses full solidarity with South Korea and Japan, and urges North Korea to stop its destabilizing behavior,” he said.
The G7 statement on the day came a day before a public meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the issue of North Korean non-proliferation scheduled for the 21st, and is interpreted as ordering the roles of China and Russia, who are permanent members .
In May, the Security Council also voted on a resolution on additional sanctions against North Korea led by the United States in response to North Korea’s ICBM launch, but it was defeated by China and Russia’s veto.
It is noted that China and Russia, who have veto powers, are very likely to oppose this meeting as well.
Earlier, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea fired one ICBM named ‘Hwasong-17’ from Pyongyang’s Sunan area at 10:15 am on the 18th, Korean time, into the East Sea.
The ICBM, found with a flight distance of about 1,000 km, an altitude of about 6,100 km, and a speed of about Mach 22, was analyzed to be able to hit the entire US mainland.
