Dangerous and reckless: EU slams N Korea missile launch

The launch 'endangers international and regional peace and security', a a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief said

The European Union on Saturday denounced North Korea's "reckless" firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, and called for an "appropriate response" from the UN.

The launch, Pyongyang's first in seven weeks, comes days before Seoul and Washington are due to start joint tabletop exercises aimed at improving their response in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.

"The launch by the DPRK of a long-range missile today was a dangerous and reckless action that endangers international and regional peace and security," said a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

"It shows that the DPRK's nuclear and missile programme threatens all countries and requires an appropriate response by the UN Security Council," she added.

Read | G7 condemns N Korea long-range ballistic missile launch

She repeated the EU's appeal to North Korea to halt its ballistic missile launches and turn instead to "constructive dialogue with the United States and the Republic of Korea".

The only route to sustainable peace and security in the region is through the DPRK engaging in actions aimed at ensuring the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula," she added.

"The EU is ready to support a new process of diplomacy."

A Japanese government spokesman told reporters that North Korea had "fired one ICBM-class ballistic missile", which flew for some 66 minutes before landing in the country's exclusive economic zone.