Borrell: Dangerous Escalation of North Korea’s Illegal Missile Launches

The European Union today condemned a significant increase in “illegal” missile launches by North Korea and called for a “decisive and unified response” at the global level, including the implementation of all UN sanctions.

The EU sees the “unprecedented” number of missiles launched, including an intercontinental ballistic missile and short-range ballistic missiles, as a “dangerous escalation” by Pyongyang, according to a statement by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“The European Union calls on the Member States of the United Nations, in particular the members of the United Nations Security Council, to ensure the full implementation of sanctions to prevent the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from obtaining material, knowledge and financing to support illegal armaments of its programs”, it is added.

According to the statement, “the unprecedented number of ballistic missiles launched by North Korea in 2022 represents a disturbing illustration of its intentions to continue to jeopardize the global non-proliferation regime” of nuclear weapons.

“This poses a serious threat to all countries and undermines regional and international peace and security,” the statement added.

The EU underlined that North Korea’s actions “cannot and will never give it the status of a nuclear-weapon state” under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, “or any other special status for that matter”.

The EU reiterated its call on North Korea to “stop its aggressive and destabilizing actions, respect international law and resume dialogue with all relevant parties”. The EU also stressed its “full solidarity” with Japan and South Korea.