G7 Foreign Ministers issued a statement on the launch using
ballistic missile technology by North Korea.
We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the
High Representative of the European Union, condemn in the
strongest terms North Korea’s launch using ballistic missile
technology conducted on November 21, 2023. This action poses a
grave threat to the peace and stability of the region and beyond.
Any launch using ballistic missile technology, even if it is
characterized as a military reconnaissance satellite, constitutes
a clear, flagrant violation of relevant United Nations Security
Council Resolutions (UNSCRs).
North Korea continues to expand its unlawful nuclear and
ballistic missile capabilities and to escalate its destabilizing
activities. We reiterate our call for the complete
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and demand that North
Korea abandon its nuclear weapons, existing nuclear programs, and
any other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile
programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner in
accordance with all relevant UNSCRs. North Korea cannot and will
never have the status of a nuclear-weapon state under the Treaty
on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
North Korea’s reckless action must be met with a swift, united,
and robust international response, particularly by the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC). We urge UNSC Members to follow
through on their commitments and call on all UN Member States to
fully and effectively implement relevant UNSCRs. In this context,
we reiterate our strong condemnation on arms transfers from North
Korea to Russia, which directly violate relevant UNSCRs. We urge
North Korea and Russia to abide by these UNSCRs and immediately
cease all such activities. In addition, we are deeply concerned
about the potential for any transfer of nuclear- or ballistic
missile-related technology to North Korea, which would further
threaten the peace and stability of the region as well as across
the globe.
We deplore North Korea’s systematic human rights violations and
abuses, and its choice to prioritize its unlawful WMD and
ballistic missile programs over the welfare of the people in
North Korea. We continue to call on North Korea to engage in
meaningful diplomacy and accept the repeated offers of dialogue
put forward by Japan, the United States, and the Republic of
Korea without preconditions.
The G7 remains committed to working with all relevant partners
toward the goal of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula
and to upholding the international order based on the rule of
law.
