UK 'deeply concerned' over North Korea's ballistic missile tests

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – The UK said it is “deeply concerned” over the latest ballistic missile tests reportedly carried out by North Korea earlier this week, the British Foreign Office said on Friday.

“The UK is deeply concerned by North Korea’s decision to carry out further ballistic missile tests on 29 September in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions,” the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement.

Urging North Korea “to refrain from provocations and take concrete steps towards complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation,” the FCDO stated that it encourages North Korea to return to dialogue.

“Alongside our allies and partners, the UK is committed to peace on the Korean Peninsula, upholding the rules-based international system and securing an end to North Korea’s unlawful activities. We strongly encourage North Korea to return to dialogue with the US,” the statement said.

Earlier this month, the US special envoy for North Korea revealed that Washington made a dialogue offer to Pyongyang in July but received no response.

Later, North Korea declared itself a nuclear weapons state after passing a new law authorizing the use of pre-emptive nuclear strikes to protect itself. The new law authorized its armed forces to use nuclear weapons if a nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction attack was launched or became imminent.

South Korea claimed on Wednesday that North Korea fired another suspected ballistic missile into the East Sea.​​​​​​​