EU calls on North Korea to end missile launches

BRUSSELS

The European Union repeatedly urged North Korea to stop missile launches Thursday and start talks on non-proliferation.

The EU reiterated its call for North Korea “to cease destabilizing actions and respond constructively to the readiness for dialogue expressed by the United States and the Republic of Korea,” Nabila Massrali, spokeswoman for the European External Action Service said in a statement.

The statement came after North Korea launched a sixth missile Thursday within a month.

Massrali cited that missile tests threaten “international and regional peace and security and go against international efforts to resume dialogue” on a transparent denuclearization process that the bloc is committed to achieving.

According to the South Korean military, North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea earlier Thursday.

Pyongyang has already carried out four confirmed missile tests in January, including a newly developed hypersonic missile.