PH denounces continuing NoKor ballistic missile launch

DFA Building. (Photo: Department of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Philippines/Facebook)

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The Philippine government denounced North Korea’s continuing ballistic missile launches, describing the acts as a provocation that undermines regional peace and stability.

In a statement Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) called on North Korea to “immediately cease” these activities and abide by all international obligations, including relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.

It urged Pyongyang to commit to peaceful and constructive dialogue.

“The Philippines expresses serious concern and strongly denounces the continuing ballistic missile launches conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK),” it said.

“Such provocative actions undermine economic progress, peace, and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region,” it added.

Joining the international community, the DFA said Manila wants to see lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and called for a “complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization” of DPRK.

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles last week, the South Korean government earlier reported without specifying where they landed.

The launches come as North Korea ramps up its nuclear weapons program and days after it unveiled its uranium enrichment facility.