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EU blames DPRK for missile launch

Xinhua, July 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini on Tuesday called on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to comply with its international obligations and show restraint in its actions.

Mogherini made the remarks in a statement when commenting on reports saying that the DPRK launched three ballistic missiles Tuesday morning, following the launch of two last month.

"This latest act by the DPRK will heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula and undermine the peace and security of the wider region," Mogherini said.

"The only road to peace and stability in the region is through the DPRK abandoning its ballistic missile, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner," said the EU official.

"We call once more on the DPRK to refrain from any further actions that increase regional tensions and to engage in a credible and meaningful dialogue with the international community, in particular in the framework of the six-party talks," she said.

The statement said that the EU side was in close contact with all partners and would work with them to address this latest action.

The launch came six days after Seoul and Washington agreed to deploy a THAAD battery in Seongju county, some 250 km southeast of Seoul, by the end of next year.

The DPRK military has threatened to take "physical measures" once the deployment site is determined.

THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) is an advanced U.S. missile defense system designed to shoot down missiles at a relatively high altitude of 40-150 km using a hit-to-kill technology. The DPRK's short-range missiles are known to fly at a lower altitude of about 20 km incapable of being intercepted by THAAD missiles.

Meanwhile, the South Korean Unification Ministry said Monday that Pyongyang appeared to have been in a state of preparing another nuclear test given increased activity in its main Punggye-ri nuclear test site where the country has carried out four underground nuclear tests since 2006. Endi