Pro-CTBT countries condemn N. Korea's nuclear test

Dozens of UN member states on Wednesday condemned North Korea's fifth nuclear test and urged the communist nation to conduct no more testing, abide by its international obligations and scrap all of its nuclear weapons and programs.

The foreign ministers of about 40 countries supportive of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty made the appeal in a joint statement adopted when they held a meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to call for the treaty's ratification.

"The meeting was unanimous in condemning the recent announced nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and in urging all states who have not yet done so to sign and/or ratify the CTBT," the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization said.

The CTBT was opened for signature in 1996 and then-President Bill Clinton was the first world leader to sign the treaty, but Congress has yet to ratify it. Currently, 183 nations have signed the treaty and 166 have finished ratification.

But the treaty has not taken effect yet because eight countries have yet to ratify it. North Korea, India and Pakistan didn't even sign the treaty while the US, China, Egypt, Iran and Israel signed the pact, but have not ratified it yet. (Yonhap)