US, EU condemn NKorean satellite launch

VIENNA – The United States and the European Union have condemned North Korea's satellite launch and are urging it to honor its nonproliferation commitments.

Alluding to the North's mid-April launch, U.S. envoy Robert Wood has told the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency that it represents a "show of bad faith and provocation." An EU statement at the same meeting strongly condemns the launch and says it is "serious violation"

The April 13 launch failed. But it aroused international concern because it was viewed as a pretext by the North to test its missile technology, despite Security Council resolutions demanding it stop doing so.

Both statements urged Pyongyang to honor nonproliferation commitments and Security Council demands and dismantle its nuclear-weapons and missile programs. The North has tested nuclear arms twice.