UK Opposes Any Dialogue With North Korea Until Denuclearization Starts

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The United Kingdom is against any dialogue with North Korea until Pyongyang takes serious steps to scale back its nuclear program, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Monday.

"Some tough words on the DPRK, on North Korea. There are some people who think we should engage early with Pyongyang. We absolutely disagree with that. They've got to make serious moves towards denuclearizing their country before it is right for us to begin a proper dialogue, and I'm glad that the council's conclusions reflected that," Johnson said upon leaving the July 2017 Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.

In its conclusions on North Korea adopted earlier on Monday at Foreign Affairs Council, the Council of the EU reaffirmed the policy of combining pressure with sanctions and other measures while keeping communication and dialogue channels open in order to promote North Korea's full compliance with UN Security Council resolutions.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council noted that "the EU policy of Critical Engagement is not an end in itself but a means to promote the DPRK's full compliance with UNSC Resolutions in terms of abandoning its nuclear, WMD and ballistic missile programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and progress on all other issues of concern." Nevertheless, the European Union provided no details on dialogue it was going to conduct with Pyongyang.

Tensions continue to escalate on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea conducts missile tests with increased frequency. The latest test took place on July 4, when Pyongyang said it had successfully launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Hwasong-14.