3 European nations condemn North Korea's missile launches

Three important US allies on Tuesday condemned the "repeated provocative launches" of ballistic missiles by North Korea, saying they violate UN Security Council resolutions banning any such activity.

The United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a joint statement after a closed council briefing by UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo that they requested because of serious concerns at the series of missile launches in recent weeks by North Korea.

The three European council members urged North Korea "to engage in meaningful negotiations with the US," as President Donald Trump and its leader Kim Jong Un agreed to on June 30 at their meeting in the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas.

"Serious efforts by North Korea to re-engage diplomatically and make progress on denuclearization are the only way to guarantee security and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region," their statement said.

The three countries stressed that "international sanctions must remain in place and be fully and strictly enforced until North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs are dismantled."
In Saturday's latest launch, North Korea said Sunday that Kim Jong Un supervised the test-firing of a "newly developed super-large multiple rocket launcher."
Trump responded to the launch saying, "Kim Jong Un has been, you know, pretty straight with me. ... He likes testing missiles but we never restricted short-range missiles. We'll see what happens."