The governments of the world’s seven most industrialized countries on Sunday condemned North Korea’s “irresponsible” launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and demanded new, “significant” steps from the UN Security Council to lift the arms embargo on Pyongyang.

A joint press release from the G7 foreign ministers issued by the State Department stressed that North Korea’s repeated missile launches “are further destabilizing the region, despite the international community’s calls for peace and stability.”

The missile tested by Pyongyang on Friday is believed to be its new ICBM, with an effective range that allows it to bomb the US mainland.

The joint statement by the heads of G7 diplomacy calls for a “united and strong response from the international community” to the launch and calls for the “necessity” of “further important action” by the UN Security Council. .

The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Japan and the US. The press release was signed by the High Representative of the European Union, Giuseppe Borrell.

Since November, North Korea has conducted an unprecedented number of missile tests, including an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed Friday in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the island of Hokkaido.

North Korea’s official news agency KCNA said the weapon tested was the Hwasong-17, which military experts are calling a “monster missile.”

Since 2006, the UN Security Council has unanimously passed more than ten resolutions imposing sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

The G7 foreign ministers’ statement reiterated the demand that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program be terminated in a “verifiable” manner and added that the isolated country would “never attain the status of a nuclear power.”

Source: RES-IPE