G7 foreign ministers urge N. Korea to return to dialogue

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of the Group of Seven (G7) countries on Wednesday urged North Korea to return to talks on ending its nuclear programs, while also urging Pyongyang to engage in inter-Korean dialogue.

The foreign ministers also expressed their support for U.S. efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula diplomatically.

"We call on the DPRK to refrain from provocative actions and to engage in a diplomatic process with the explicit goal of denuclearization. We remain committed to the goal of complete, verifiable and irreversible abandonment of all of the DPRK's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions," they said in a joint statement, issued at the end of the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' meeting in London.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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