The Foreign Ministers of the G7 Foreign Ministries and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell condemned the launch North Korea intercontinental ballistic missile. Pyongyang’s actions “undermine regional and international peace and security,” according to a joint statement released on Sunday, March 19, by the European External Action Service.
In addition, the G7 and the European Union condemned the inaction of the UN Security Council after the new missile launch. Individual members of this body prevented the adoption of the necessary measures, the authors of the document said, without naming specific countries.
In addition, the statement points to a record number of North Korean ballistic missile launches, as well as Pyongyang’s “irresponsible and destabilizing rhetoric” regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons. Its authors repeated the demand for the DPRK to renounce nuclear weapons, nuclear programs and any other programs for the creation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles, as well as the full implementation of the obligations arising from the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.
Launch of a new North Korean missile
According to the South Korean armed forces, on the morning of March 19, the DPRK launched a short-range ballistic missile from an area in the north of Pyongyang province towards the Sea of Japan. In turn, the Ministry of Defense of Japan indicated that the North Korean missile rose to a height of 50 km and covered a distance of 800 kilometers. The object then fell into the sea.
It’s already third DPRK missile tests since March 12, when South Korea and the United States, the largest joint military exercise in the past five years, code-named Warrior Shield, started. The DPRK considers these exercises as “invasion training”, although Seoul and Washington stressed that only defense is being practiced. In addition, this year Pyongyang carried out rocket launches on January 1, 19 And February 20th. In 2022, North Korea launched more missiles than ever, with more than 50 missile tests, despite UN Security Council resolutions calling for them to end.
On January 3, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol instructed the National Security Administration to consider suspending the September 19, 2018 inter-Korean military agreement to reduce tensions if “North Korea commits another provocation.” This was a reaction to the intrusion of North Korean unmanned aerial vehicles into South Korean airspace.
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