European members of the UN Security Council called Tuesday for the strict enforcement of international sanctions against North Korea, after a closed door meeting prompted by Pyongyang's latest missile test.
"International sanctions must remain in place and be fully and strictly enforced," they said in a statement read by French ambassador Nicolas Riviere.
Joining France in the statement was Belgium, Germany, Poland and Britain as well as Estonia, which becomes a council member in January.
In a rare encounter with journalists on Monday, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Kim Song, assailed the Europeans for doing Washington's bidding in seeking the Security Council meeting.
"The United States and its followers should bear in mind that if they raise the issue of our self-defensive measures at the UN Security Council meeting in this moment, it will further (increase) our desire to defend our sovereignty," he said.
The North fired a sea-launched missile October 2 in the latest -- and most provocative -- in a series of missile tests, just days before long-stalled US-North Korean nuclear talks were to resume in Sweden.
A North Korean delegation met with the Americans in Stockholm October 5 but then walked out, saying the talks broke up "without any outcome."