EU urges 'peaceful, not military' approach to Korean crises

The European Union's foreign policy chief has called for peaceful, not military means to resolve the Korean peninsula crisis, urging Pyongyang to avoid any further provocative action that could stoke tensions. 

Federica Mogherini said in a statement yesterday that at such a critical juncture, the European Union supports diplomatic work with our partners aimed at the de-escalation of the situation and achieving the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula through peaceful, not military, means.

The statement was issued after a meeting of a key EU panel which agreed the bloc would reach out to North and South Korea, the



United States, China, Russia and Japan.

There is an urgent need for a de-escalation of tensions on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Mogherini said. We therefore call on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to refrain from any further provocative action that can only increase regional and global tensions.

Tensions have been mounting since the North's two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month, which appeared to bring much of the US within range.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang's state media said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un today examined the plan for a long time and discussed it with commanding officers.