G7 nations condemn missile launch by North Korea

Washington: G7 nations have condemned the continued testing of ballistic missiles by North Korea, including the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch conducted on Thursday (Local Time), said a US State Department joint statement.

"We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union strongly condemn the continued testing of ballistic missiles by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch conducted on March 24, 2022," the statement read. The Foreign Ministers urged the DPRK to fully comply with all legal obligations arising from the relevant Security Council resolutions. They called on the DPRK to accept the repeated offers of dialogue put forward by all parties concerned, including the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

The ministers while touching upon the risk of mass destruction weapons said, "We call on all States to fully and effectively implement all restrictive measures relating to the DPRK imposed by the UN Security Council and to address the risk of weapons of mass destruction proliferation from the DPRK as an urgent priority."

Notably, India and South Korea also condemned the test of a long-range ballistic missile by the DPRK.