Foreign Ministers of the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, USA) condemned the launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles by North Korea, including the March 16 incident. In their joint statement it is said that such actions undermine regional and world security.
The ministers accused the DPRK of using “destabilizing rhetoric regarding the use of nuclear weapons” and of accelerating the escalation of the conflict by launching missiles.
“North Korea cannot and will never have the status of a nuclear-weapon state under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. We call on North Korea to engage in constructive diplomacy towards denuclearization and accept the repeated proposals for dialogue put forward by Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea,” the statement said.
On March 16, the South Korean and Japanese military reported the launch of the Hwaseong-17 ballistic missile from the DPRK. The Yonhap agency noted that the launch occurred hours before the start of talks between South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo.
North Korea called the missile launch a retaliatory measure against US and South Korean military exercises. On March 13, South Korea and the United States began their longest-running joint military exercise, Freedom Shield.
About the aggravation of the situation in the region – in the material “Kommersant” “Korean missiles opened an ocean of opportunities.”