Top diplomats decry North Korea’s military aid to Russia
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly speaks during the G7 foreign ministers meeting in La Malbaie, Quebec, Thursday. (Reuters-Yonhap) The top diplomats of the Group of Seven (G7) countries called Friday for North Korea to abandon all its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and condemned Pyongyang’s military aid to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The foreign ministers of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the High Representative of the European Union issued a joint statement after their meeting in La Malbaie, Canada.
“G7 members demanded that the DPRK abandon all its nuclear weapons and any other weapons of mass destruction as well as ballistic missile programs in accordance with all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions,” they said in the statement. DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“They expressed their serious concerns over and the need to address together the DPRK’s cryptocurrency thefts. They called on DPRK to resolve the abductions issue immediately,” they added.
The ministers decried support to Russia by North Korea, Iran and China amid the protracted war in Ukraine.
“G7 members condemned the provision to Russia of military assistance by DPRK and Iran, and the provision of weapons and dual-use components by China, a decisive enabler of Russia’s war and of the reconstitution of Russia’s armed forces,” they said.
“They reiterated their intention to continue to take action against such third countries.” (Yonhap)