Federal Foreign Office condemns missile test in North Korea

A Federal Foreign Office Spokesperson in Berlin today (19 July) issued the following statement on reports of a ballistic missile test by North Korea:

If this morning’s reports on three missile tests by North Korea are confirmed, North Korea will yet again deliberately have defied the relevant UN resolutions. We condemn these tests in the strongest possible terms. We urgently call on North Korea to comply with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Within the EU and in conjunction with all its other partners, Germany will lobby for the international community to continue to take a determined, united and unambiguous stand against any further provocations by North Korea.

Background information:

Since the start of the year, North Korea has already conducted several tests in violation of its obligations under international law. On 6 January, for instance, North Korea conducted a nuclear weapon test (the fourth, following earlier ones in 2007, 2009 and 2013), and it has repeatedly tested various kinds of ballistic missiles over the past few months.

Relevant UN Security Council resolutions (nos. 1695, 1718, 1874, 2087 and 2094) call for the cessation of the North Korean missile and nuclear programme and ban North Korea from using ballistic missile technology.

With resolution 2270 (2016), the Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea containing among other things substantial elements of an economic embargo (e.g. ban on trade in coal, kerosene, rare earth minerals) and financial and transportation restrictions. The United States, Japan and South Korea have imposed further‑reaching bilateral sanctions. The EU, too, has imposed autonomous sanctions which go further than the UN resolutions.

from
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2016/160719_AA_Raketentests_Nordkorea.html?nn=479796