NEW YORK, 30th August, 2017 (WAM) -- The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the latest ballistic missile launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK, which flew over Japan, as well as the series of launches that took place on 25th August.

Convening a formal meeting yesterday evening immediately following urgent, closed-door consultations, the Security Council issued a Presidential Statement through which it condemned the DPRK for its "outrageous actions" and demanded that the North-East Asia country "immediately cease all such actions."

"The Security Council stresses that these DPRK actions are not just a threat to the region, but to all UN Member States," the statement continued, expressing the 15-member body's grave concern that the DPRK is, by conducting such a launch over Japan, "as well as its recent actions and public statements," deliberately undermining regional peace and stability and causing grave security concerns around the world.

The Council demanded that the DPRK abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes "in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, and immediately cease all related activities" and not conduct any further tests or provocations.

Earlier today, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the latest ballistic missile launch, in violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

[Image credit:A wide view of the Security Council meeting during which it issued a Presidential Statement on the recent launch of ballistic missiles by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). - UN Photo/Mark Garten]

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