G7 urges 'significant' UN response to North Korea missile tests

G7 said Friday's test was a 'reckless act' and "another blatant violation" of UN resolutions

North Korea's Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, which it said it test-fired from Pyongyang International Airport on Friday. Korea News Service / AP

Soraya Ebrahimi

The UN Security Council should implement "significant measures" after the latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch by North Korea, foreign ministers of the Group of Seven major industrialised nations said on Sunday.

At the request of the US, the Security Council is set to discuss North Korea in a meeting on Monday, after the latest missile test launches this year.

"[North Korea's] actions demand a united and robust response by the international community," the ministers of the US, Japan, Canada, Germany, Britain, France and Italy said.

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Pyongyang on Friday tested a ballistic missile capable of reaching the US mainland shortly after warning of "fiercer military responses" to Washington increasing its security presence in the region.

The G7 said Friday's test was a "reckless act" and "another blatant violation" of UN resolutions.

North Korea fires at least 10 missiles - in pictures

Air raid sirens sounded across South Korea as North Korea tested its missile systems on Wednesday, including one that fell close to South Korean waters. Here, travellers at a railway station in Seoul watch a news broadcast. AFP

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech at the Central Academy of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on October 18. AFP

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters about North Korea's ballistic missile test on Wednesday. Reuters

South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol, centre, attends a meeting of the National Security Council in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday. AP

Travellers at Seoul Railway Station watch a TV news report on North Korea's missile tests. AP

A soldier at Seoul Railway Station watches a TV news report about North Korea's missile tests. EPA

Television news in South Korea reports news of North Korea's missile tests. On Wednesday, Seoul told residents on the island of Ulleungdo off its east coast to evacuate to bunkers after North Korea fired three short range ballistic missiles. AFP

At a railway station in Seoul on Wednesday, a man watches a television broadcast showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test. AFP

"The unprecedented series of unlawful ballistic missile launches conducted by [North Korea] in 2022 … pose a serious threat to regional and international peace and security," the G7 said.

It said the country "cannot and will never have the status of a nuclear-weapon state".

North Korea launches new intercontinental ballistic missile - video

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Updated: November 20, 2022, 11:42 PM