US, EU and allies urged the DPRK to abandon its nuclear and missile programs

Joint statement by eleven countries and the EU

The United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, the EU and other allies on Wednesday, October 28, once again demanded that the DPRK abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and called on all UN member states to fully implement the sanctions, Anadolu reports. The statement was signed by the EU, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. The parties reaffirmed their commitment to the 'complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization' of the DPRK.

October's new sanctions and the role of the MSMT

The statement notes that in October the EU, Australia and the United States imposed sanctions targeting the DPRK's use of foreign workers, 'malicious cyber activity' and individuals involved in 'unlawful cooperation between the DPRK and Russia.' According to the wording of the statement, these measures are intended to undermine the DPRK's ability to sustain the development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles, as well as to counter military-technical cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. The signatories indicated that the new sanctions designations are based on detailed reports by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), which tracks the DPRK's non-compliance with UN Security Council resolutions. The authors of the statement also called on all UN member states, especially the permanent members of the Security Council, to fully implement the relevant resolutions.