G7 foreign ministers condemn N. Korea's space rocket launch

▲ A new type of Chollima-1 rocket carrying a reconnaissance satellite called the Malligyong-1 lifts off from the launching pad at the Sohae satellite launch site in Tongchang-ri in northwestern North Korea at 10:42 p.m. on Nov. 21, 2023, in this photo released the next day by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

G7 ministers-NK space launch

G7 foreign ministers condemn N. Korea's space rocket launch

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of the Group of Seven (G7) countries on Wednesday condemned "in the strongest terms" North Korea's space rocket launch this week, saying it presented a "grave" threat to peace in the region and beyond.

The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and Japan issued the statement after Pyongyang launched a rocket late Tuesday to put a claimed military reconnaissance satellite into orbit and claimed success after the launch.

"This action poses a grave threat to the peace and stability of the region and beyond," they said in the statement. "Any launch using ballistic missile technology, even if it is characterized as a military reconnaissance satellite, constitutes a clear, flagrant violation of relevant U.N. Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs)."

The ministers called for the North to abandon its nuclear programs, stressing that the North "cannot and will never" have the status of a nuclear-weapon state under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

"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 and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner," they said.

The ministers also underscored that the North's "reckless" action must be met with a "swift, united, and robust" international response, particularly by the U.N. Security Council.

"We urge UNSC members to follow through on their commitments and call on all U.N. member states to fully and effectively implement relevant UNSCRs," they said.

The ministers, in addition, reiterated their "strong" condemnation on arms transfers from North Korea to Russia.

"We urge North Korea and Russia to abide by these UNSCRs and immediately cease all such activities," they said. "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."

They called on the North to engage in "meaningful" diplomacy and accept the repeated offers of dialogue put forward by South Korea, U.S. and Japan without preconditions.

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