More North Korea sanctions ‘required urgently’

Darsun Aydemir | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a press conference following the European Union (EU) Leaders Summit in Brussels, Belgium on March 10, 2017.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urgently called for more sanctions over North Korea.

In a parliamentary address Tuesday, Merkel said she would meet with European Union (EU) foreign ministers this weekend to discuss ramping up sanctions against the rogue state, which launched its latest and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday.

“North Korea’s nuclear tests are a flagrant violation of all international conditions,” Merkel told the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

She insisted that sanctions, which would curtail trade with the closed state, rather than conflict, would be the best way to end provocations by President Kim Jong Un.

“I say clearly and in the name of the whole government: there can only be a peaceful, diplomatic solution.”

Sunday’s missile launch was North Korea’s sixth in a series of provocations. The closed state claimed it was an advanced hydrogen bomb, though experts are yet to confirm this.