STRELNA (near St. Petersburg), July 16 (RIA Novosti) - Group of Eight leaders condemned North Korea's missile test launches in a joint statement Sunday and urged the Communist nation to abandon its nuclear programs.
North Korea officially announced on July 5 that it had conducted test launches of ballistic missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2, and claimed it was the country's sovereign right.
"We condemn the launching by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) of multiple ballistic missiles on July 5 local time and express serious concerns as this jeopardizes peace, stability and security in the region and beyond," a joint statement said.
In the statement on nuclear non-proliferation, G8 leaders also called on North Korea to resume unconditionally the six-nation talks on the Korean nuclear program, which have been frozen in the past six months.
"We urge the DPRK to expeditiously return to these talks without precondition and to cooperate to settle the outstanding issues of concern on the basis of this Statement, which reaffirms the common objective of Six Parties; all participants should intensify their efforts to achieve the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner and to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia," the statement said.
G8 leaders also said they would seek to prevent any form of missile or nuclear cooperation with North Korea under the UN Security Council Resolution 1695.
