UNITED NATIONS, Nov 6, (AP): A US-led statement approved by 10 of the 15 UN Security Council members Tuesday condemned a recent North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile launch and called on Pyongyang to return to negotiations and abandon its missile programs. The statement follows a series of recent North Korean missile launches, including the test Thursday of the country’s newest ICBM that is designed to reach the United States.

The 10 Security Council members said that launch - in addition to more than 100 North Korean ballistic missile launches since 2022 - violates multiple Security Council resolutions prohibiting the North from using ballistic missile technology and jeopardizes international peace and security. The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies also decried last week's launch in a statement Tuesday, saying North Korea "continues to advance its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities and to escalate its destabilizing activities.”

The G7 is Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US. At the United Nations, US deputy ambassador Robert Wood read the statement to reporters surrounded by diplomats from the nine other nations that signed on - Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

They were joined by representatives from three countries that will join the council in January - Denmark, Greece and Panama. Five Security Council nations didn’t support the statement - Russia, China, Algeria, Mozambique and Guyana. In the statement, the 10 council members said the United States sought the required approval of all 15 council members for a press statement condemning the ICBM test and calling for North Korea to adhere to the Securitiy Council's legally binding sanctions.

But the statement said two countries - identified by council members as North Korea’s allies Russia and China - refused to join the denunciation of Pyongyang’s actions. The 10 members stressed that all council nations are obligated to implement sanctions on North Korea, urging all the nations on the Security Council to abide by that responsibility, maintain international peace and security, and uphold the treaty banning the proliferation of nuclear weapons.