Joint Statement at the United Nations Security Council Stakeout on the Recent ICBM Launch by the DPRK

(The following is a joint statement delivered by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on behalf of Albania, Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.)
 
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the DPRK’s April 12 solid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile launch. This reckless, unannounced launch threatened civilians and the safe navigation of ships and planes within the region. This type of irresponsible activity, alongside destabilizing messages, is imprudent and dangerous, and we must not condone it as business as usual.

Each and every one of the DPRK’s 17 ballistic missile launches this year is a blatant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. Each and every launch poses a threat to the region. The testing of long-range ballistic missiles puts the entire world at risk.

We remain committed to peaceful, diplomatic, and political solution and continue to call on the DPRK to return to dialogue toward denuclearization. It is incumbent upon the DPRK government to respond to these calls.

We urge all UN Member States to join us in strongly condemning this perilous behavior and in demanding the DPRK refrain from conducting further ballistic missile launches or a seventh nuclear test.

The DPRK must abandon its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner.

We also call on Member States to continue to fully implement the relevant Security Council resolutions, as the DPRK’s revenue generation activities throughout the world, including its malicious cyber activities, have contributed to these weapons programs and related activities, including the April 12 launch.

The Security Council must overcome its prolonged silence, act on its responsibility to effectively address this security threat, and promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.