By Janet Ekstract
İSTANBUL (GOLDENHORN AGENCY) – On Friday, G7 foreign ministers released a statement along with the High Representative of the European Union in condemnation of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch by the North Korean government. The G7 comprise Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the U.S. The ICBM launched on Thursday, the G7 stated, is in direct opposition to North Korea’s “self-declared moratorium on ICBM launches.” The group also stated that the missile launch is a “blatant violation of the DPRK’s obligations under numerous UN Security Council resolutions including resolution 2397 (2017).”
The G7 called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) actions “reckless” and said they threaten “regional and international peace and security.” They further stated that this “poses a dangerous and unpredictable risk to international civil aviation and maritime navigations in the region, and demand a united response by the international community, including further measures to be taken by the UN Security Council.” The group said it is committed to “working with all relevant partners toward the goal of peace on the Korean Peninsula and to upholding the rules-based international order.”
Its statement requested the DPRK to “fully comply” with all “legal obligations” related to relevant Security Council resolutions. The G7 appealed to North Korea to accept “repeated offers of dialogue” that all parties have requested including the U.S., the Republic of Korea and Japan. The statement read in part: “We, the G7 foreign ministers and the High Representative of the European Union, also call on the DPRK to abandon its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner.”
Also, the G7 stated that the dire humanitarian situation in DPRK is “the result of the result of the DPRK’s diversion of the DPRK’s resources into weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs rather than into the welfare of its people.” The G7 is calling on all States to” fully and effectively implement all restrictive measures relating to the DPRK imposed by the UN Security Council and to address the risk of weapons of mass destruction proliferation from the DPRK as an urgent priority. We note with concern the report by the Panel of Experts established in pursuant to resolution 1874 (2009) that illicit ship-to-ship transfers continue to take place. We remain ready to assist in and strengthen capacities for effective sanctions implementation. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, we commend the work of the 1718 Committee, which has swiftly approved all Covid-19 related sanctions exemption requests for humanitarian assistance for the DPRK.”
