On Sunday 14 May, the European Union called on the People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to engage in a "credible and meaningful dialogue with the international community", following the launch of a new ballistic missile a few hours earlier, in violation of several United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
In a press release, the spokesperson for the European External Action Service said that the EU is ready to support such a process for dialogue and that High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini "will remain in close contact in the coming days with all of the European Union's international partners". Japan and the USA have called for an emergency meeting of the UNSC in response to the launch of this missile, which according to experts is of unprecedented range. The emergency meeting could be held on Tuesday.
The EEAS spokesperson stated that this and previous launches constitute a threat to international peace and security, and further aggravate tensions in the region "at a time when de-escalation is instead needed". The DPRK "is expected to comply with its international obligations". "It must halt these launches and abandon its ballistic missiles programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner", the spokesperson stated, adding that the same holds true for its nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction programmes. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)