|
North Korea on Thursday ratcheted up the rhetoric ahead of annual South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, warning it "can no more assure the safety of South Korean passenger flights over our territory, especially those passing over the East Sea" during the drill on March 9-20.
The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland was quoted by the official [North] Korea Central News Agency as saying, "Because of the United States and its puppet party in [South] Korea and their joint war exercise, we do not know what kind of military clashes may occur in the Korean Peninsula."
A South Korean official said it was the first time that the North has threatened the safety of private passenger planes, adding the government is taking the situation "seriously."
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said 16 airplanes of Korean carriers -- 12 on North American routes and four to and from Russia -- passed the North Korean flight information region (FIR) on Wednesday, and South Korea paid the North 685 euro or W1.35 million per plane (US$1=W1,563).
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines said they will make detours to Japan for all flights that pass North Korean airspace from Friday. That will take about 15 to 40 minutes longer per flight and cost an extra W3 to 4 million. North Korea opened its FIR to the western world in 1998.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
