South Korea and 73 other countries have jointly denounced North Korea for threatening world peace and security by continuously engaging in ballistic missile launches and nuclear weapons development.

The countries issued the stance in a joint statement adopted at the first Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons(NPT) held in Vienna on Thursday.

The U.S., Britain, Germany, Japan and Switzerland were among the countries that signed the joint statement that also urged the North to fulfill international obligations.

The countries called for a stop to all nuclear activities and efforts to expand and renovate nuclear facilities, adding that Pyongyang must take substantive steps to scrap all nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and related programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

The countries stressed that they continue to support all endeavors to establish sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula and urged the regime to accept requests for dialogue by the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

The joint statement then reaffirmed that the North, in line with the NPT, cannot and will not acquire the status of a nuclear state.