Brussels, 06/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 6 January, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini condemned the testing of a nuclear “hydrogen” bomb, which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) claimed it had carried out earlier in the day.
“If confirmed, this action would represent a grave violation of the DPRK's international obligations not to produce or test nuclear weapons, as determined by several United Nations Security Council Resolutions”, Mogherini said in a press release, adding that this was “a threat to the peace and security of the entire North East Asia region”.
Mogherini asked North Korea to “cease this illegal and dangerous behaviour” and to “re-engage in a credible and meaningful dialogue with the international community” - in particular in the framework of the Six-Party Talks (China, South Korea, North Korea, the USA, Japan and Russia). Mogherini spoke to Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea Yun Byung-se and the Foreign Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida to discuss their understanding of the situation, including the need to check if the test really took place. They also discussed the way forward and agreed on the need for a “strong, coordinated and united” response from the international community (including in the framework of the United Nations and G7 countries, which Japan is currently chairing), the European External Action Service (EEAS) stated in a press release.
On Wednesday 6 January, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also condemned the DPRK's continuing development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, as well as its incendiary and threatening speech. Stoltenberg called on Pyongyang fully to respect its international commitments, to abandon its nuclear weapons and existing nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes in a way that can be checked and is irreversible, and to engage in credible and genuine talks on denuclearisation.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon asked North Korea to stop all nuclear activity and to respect its obligations for verifiable denuclearisation. He said that this test is deeply destabilising for regional security and seriously damages international non-proliferation efforts. At the time of EUROPE going to press, the UN Security Council (UNSC) was holding an emergency meeting in New York at the request of the USA and Japan. It was expected to take the form of consultations behind closed doors between the 15 member countries. The British ambassador, Matthew Rycroft, announced that the UNSC member countries were reportedly planning to strengthen international sanctions against Pyongyang. According to a diplomat quoted by French news agency AFP, the UNSC was expected to publish a statement strongly condemning the new North Korean test, and to leave it up to its experts and diplomats to then work on a resolution imposing new targeted sanctions.
North Korea has previously tested the atomic bomb on three occasions - in 2006, 2009 and 2013. The tests resulted in international sanctions being imposed on the country. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)
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