"We are supportive of efforts underway at the United Nations to impose additional sanctions on the DPRK, and call for all nations to fully implement existing UN sanctions and make further efforts to apply decisive pressure to convince the DPRK regime to abandon its current threatening and destabilising path," the statement read, referring to the Asian country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
"The North Atlantic Council (NAC) condemns in the strongest possible terms the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) unprecedented launch of a ballistic missile of intercontinental range on 4 July, a major escalation that directly violates multiple United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions and clearly demonstrates the growing threat posed by the DPRK to the Alliance, to global peace and security, as well as to the global non-proliferation regime," the statement said.
The NAC also stressed its commitment to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula by peaceful means.
On July 4, Pyongyang said it had carried out a successful launch of its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-14, which fell into the Sea of Japan. North Korean media reported that the missile flew 580 miles and reached a maximum altitude of 1,740 miles. The test was sharply criticized by the international community.
