G7 statement:
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 December 18 (local time) launch of
an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), following four
previous ICBM launches this year as well as other launches using
ballistic missile technology.
North Korea continues to advance 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 all its nuclear weapons, existing nuclear programs,
and all other existing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and
ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and
irreversible manner in accordance with all relevant United
Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs). We deplore North
Korea’s choice to prioritize its unlawful WMD and ballistic
missile programs over the welfare of the people in North Korea.
North Korea’s repeated reckless actions 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 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, and seriously
undermine the global non-proliferation regime that we all value
and that substantially contributes to our collective security. We
also 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 relevant UNSCRs and
immediately cease all such activities. We continue to call on
North Korea to engage in meaningful diplomacy and accept the
repeated offers of dialogue without preconditions put forward by
Japan, the United States, and the Republic of Korea.
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.
