G7 Foreign Ministers: North Korea Must Achieve Complete, Verifiable, and Irreversible Denuclearization

G7 Foreign Ministers. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

The Group of Seven (G7) reaffirmed the principle of "Complete, Verifiable, and Irreversible Denuclearization (CVID)" of North Korea at their first foreign ministers' meeting since the inauguration of the second term of the U.S. Donald Trump administration.

The foreign ministers of the seven countries?United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, and Italy?stated in a declaration released on the 15th (local time) on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, "We demand that North Korea abandon all nuclear weapons, existing nuclear programs, and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner, in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions."

The inclusion of the CVID principle in the outcome of the first G7 meeting after the start of the Trump administration's second term is interpreted as reflecting the administration's stance not to lower the "standard" regarding North Korea's denuclearization.

The statement said, "G7 members expressed serious concerns about North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

It added, "North Korea's direct support for Russia's invasion war in Ukraine represents a dangerous escalation of conflict that has serious consequences for security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific."

Furthermore, the statement urged North Korea to "immediately cease all support for Russia's invasion war in Ukraine, including the withdrawal of troops deployed for Russia," and also called on North Korea to promptly resolve the abduction issue.

Meanwhile, the G7 ministers strongly opposed "China's attempts to restrict freedom of navigation through militarization and coercive activities regarding islands and reefs in the South China Sea."