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8 countries urge int`l aviation body to act on N. Korea missile launches

8 countries urge int`l aviation body to act on N. Korea missile launches

Posted July. 17, 2014 03:27,   

한국어

The international community has taken joint action against North Korea`s continued missile provocations on its east coast and near the military demarcation line. Seoul`s foreign ministry said Wednesday that it had sent a letter co-signed by seven other countries to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), expressing concerns over the North`s missile launches. It was the second time that the South Korean government raised a North Korea issue to the ICAO. The first time was in May 2012, when the North Korea jammed the South`s global positioning system (GPS) signals.

In the letter, the eight countries said that the North`s failure to notify its missile launches in advance was clearly in violation of its duty as a signatory to the ICAO, demanding Pyongyang to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such launches. The ICAO has 191 member states. The North joined the international group in 1977. The seven countries that co-signed the letter were the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Japan. Japan`s participation attracted attention, considering the worst-ever Tokyo-Pyongyang relations and the ongoing negotiations between the two over the North`s past abductions of Japanese citizens.

The South Korean foreign ministry expects the ICAO to deliberate the issue and send a letter to the North urging Pyongyang to find the truth and prevent the recurrences of such missile launches.

Separately, South Korea and Britain asked the United Nations` North Korea Sanctions Committee to investigate whether Pyongyang`s recent missile launches violated the U.N. Security Council`s resolutions on the North. Under the U.N. Resolutions Nos. 2087, 1874 and 1718, North Korea cannot be engaged in any activity related with ballistic missiles.