SEOUL – South Korea told the North yesterday to immediately withdraw a threat it made against the South’s commercial airliners that has forced them to stop flying near the airspace of the communist neighbour.
Singapore Airlines, the world’s largest by market value, said it was joining South Korean carriers in avoiding North Korean airspace, although other regional carriers were not altering their flightpaths.
North Korea, which is preparing to test its longest-range Taepodong-2 missile, said on Thursday it could not guarantee the safety of the South’s commercial flights off the east coast of the peninsula, where the missile base is located.
It linked the warning to next week’s joint US-South Korea military drills, which start on Monday and have been held for years without major incident. The prickly North regularly criticises them as a prelude to invasion and nuclear war.
“Threatening civilian airliners’ normal operations under international aviation regulations is not only against the international rules but is an act against humanity,” South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyeon said.
“The government urges the North to immediately withdraw the military threat against civilian airliners,” Mr Kim said.
The South’s Korean Air and Asiana Airlines had been immediately notified of the threat following the North’s announcement, he added.
The airliners responded by diverting flights that approach the country from the east, he said.About 33 daily flights approached the South from the east with about 15 of them by South Korean airliners.
Singapore Airlines said it was avoiding North Korean airspace and using alternative routes, but added that the move would not significantly affect flight times. Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Air China said they had no plans to alter their flight paths. – (Reuters)