[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The United Nations and the European Union (EU) have called for the resumption of dialogue and restraint from escalating tensions in response to North Korea's series of armed provocations.
Florencia Soto Ni?o, UN Deputy Spokesperson, stated on the 14th (local time) in response to a Voice of America (VOA) inquiry about North Korea's provocations, "The UN Secretary-General urges North Korea to resume talks with key parties to achieve sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
She added, "North Korea's continued missile tests using ballistic missile technology continue to disregard Security Council resolutions aimed at ending such activities."
The EU also criticized North Korea's military demonstrations. Nabila Massrali, EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, responded to VOA's inquiry about North Korea's provocations by saying, "We condemn the repeated illegal provocations and urge North Korea to refrain from any actions that could further escalate international and regional tensions."
She further stated, "North Korea must immediately comply with UN Security Council resolutions and halt all related activities by completely, verifiably, and irreversibly abandoning all nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, and ballistic missile programs."
Since the end of last month, North Korea has been conducting armed provocations by consecutively launching medium- and short-range ballistic missiles. On the 13th, it also carried out approximately 560 artillery rounds in the maritime buffer zones of the East Sea and West Sea, established under the September 19 military agreement, both in the early morning and afternoon.
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