On Tuesday 4 July, the European Union threatened North Korea with further sanctions. Earlier in the day Pyongyang successfully tested an intercontinental missile which travelled 930km before landing in the sea in the exclusive economic area of Japan.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini "will speak in the coming days to the foreign ministers of international partners to discuss the international response, including the possibility of further UN Security Council measures", the spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) stated in a press release. The UN Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting on 5 July, at the request of the USA. "The European Union, for its part, will consider an appropriate response, in close consultation with key partners and in line with UN Security Council deliberations, including possible additional restrictive measures", the EEAS spokesperson added.
The spokesperson again stated that the EU expected North Korea to halt all launches using ballistic missile technology and to abandon once and for all its ballistic missile programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. North Korea should refrain from any action that could further increase regional tensions and engage, in good faith, in a credible dialogue with the international community aimed at pursuing the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and full implementation of all relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the EEAS spokesperson stated, adding that the European Union was ready to support such a dialogue.
The subject of North Korea could be addressed at the G20 which will meet in Hamburg on 7-8 July. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)