The G7 foreign ministers sharply condemned the next launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by the DPRK and called for a “united response from the international community to the irresponsible behavior” of Pyongyang, including “further significant measures by the UN Security Council.”
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“The G7 participants condemned in the strongest terms the launch of another intercontinental ballistic missile carried out by North Korea on February 18, 2023. These actions are a gross violation of the provisions of UN Security Council resolutions and threaten regional and international security and peace,” the statement said after the meeting.
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The summit of the G7 foreign ministers was held on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, which will last until February 19.
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The meeting participants also called on North Korea to fully comply with the obligations imposed by relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
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“North Korea’s irresponsible behavior requires a unified response from the international community, including further substantial action by the UN Security Council,” the document emphasizes.
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North Korea at 17.21 Saturday Japanese time launched a ballistic missile, which, according to the Japanese military, belongs to the class of intercontinental.
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According to the secretary general of the Japanese government, Hirokazu Matsuno, “the predicted range of the North Korean missile was about 900 kilometers, and the maximum flight altitude was 5,700 kilometers.” He also stressed that the rocket was fired in a so-called cantilever trajectory and was in the air for 66 minutes, falling into the Sea of Japan 200 kilometers west of Oshima Island in Hokkaido Prefecture, inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
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In turn, the head of the Japanese Ministry of Defense noted that, according to military estimates, an intercontinental ballistic missile fired by North Korea, when launched along a normal trajectory, is capable of covering a distance of 14,000 kilometers and reaching the US mainland.
