NATO urges DPRK to abandon nuclear weapons

BRUSSELS, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers from the 28 NATO countries on Tuesday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

NATO condemns "in the strongest possible terms" Pyongyang's continued development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons as well as its "recent inflammatory and threatening rhetoric," they said in a statement.

Such moves "seriously undermine regional stability, jeopardize the prospects for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and threaten international peace and security," the statement said.

The alliance called on the DPRK to "abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and engage in credible and authentic talks on denuclearization."

Recent months have seen tensions running high on the Korean Peninsula. The UN Security Council imposed fresh sanctions against Pyongyang last month, after the northeast Asian country conducted a nuclear test in February.

The United States and South Korea have since carried out intensive war games in and around South Korea, including sending B-52 strategic heavy bombers and B-2 stealth bombers to South Korea, apparently in a show of force.

These moves have led the DPRK to make repeated threats of war, which have spooked many in and outside the region.

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