N. Korea warns S. Korean flights over East Sea may not be safe

(ATTN: ADDS Seoul officials' quote on S. Korean flights, N.K. missile, airliner
changing route, use of N. Korean airspace)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, March 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea warned Thursday it can no longer assure
the safety of South Korean passenger planes flying over the East Sea, protesting
an upcoming joint military drill by South Korea and the United States.

"Under the situation ... no one knows what military conflicts will be touched
off," the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said.
North Korea is "compelled to declare that security cannot be guaranteed for South
Korean civil airplanes flying through the territorial air of our side ... and its
vicinity above the East Sea of Korea, in particular, while the military exercises
are under way," the inter-Korean committee of the North's Workers' Party said in
a statement carried in English by the North's Korean Central News Agency.
Korean Air, South Korea's largest airliner, said it already has rerouted its
vessels. A cargo plane planned to come into Seoul early Friday has been
instructed to fly a different course, it said.
"There are two other routes we can use. We don't need to fly over North Korea if
the North insists," Lee Ki-kwang, a spokesman for Korean Air, said.
The threat comes as Pyongyang is preparing to launch what is believed to be a
long-range missile from a base on its east coast.
South Korea and the U.S. are scheduled to begin their annual Key Resolve and Foal
Eagle drill on Monday. The allies say the exercise is defense-oriented, while
Pyongyang views it as preparations for a preemptive strike.
In this year's March 9-20 drill, the U.S. plans to mobilize a nuclear-powered
carrier and 26,000 troops to test its ability to quickly deploy forces should
North Korea invade, according to the U.S. Forces Korea.
"This saber-rattling is large-scale war exercises, the first of their kind since
the emergence of the new administration in the United States," the North said.
It said the exercise is "so dangerous" that it may develop into "an actual war
any moment."
In its first talks with the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) in over six
years on Monday, Pyongyang demanded that the annual military maneuver be
canceled. The two sides are scheduled to meet again on Friday at the truce
village of Panmunjom.
The UNC is backed by 28,500 U.S. servicemen stationed in South Korea and
oversees the truce declared at the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said South Korean
passenger planes are allowed to pass through North Korean airspace over the East
Sea under the accords of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The South Korean military was closely monitoring North Korean movements in the
eastern region, a military official said. "No unusual activity has yet been
detected," he said, requesting anonymity.
Another military source said the latest warning may be a sign that the North may
launch its rocket during the South Korea-U.S. joint drill.
"The DPRK's military force for self-defence will never allow any slightest
provocation or its sign in the sky, land and sea but deal decisive and
devastating blows at the aggressors," the North said. DPRK stands for the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
North Korea said last month it is preparing to launch a satellite, which
neighboring states believe may be a cover to flight-test its long-range
Taepodong-2 missile, which in theory can reach the U.S. West Coast.
Regional countries have threatened sanctions against the North, regardless of
whether the object is a missile or a satellite.
North Korea opened its airspace to international flights in 1998. The corridor is
mostly used for services to and from the United States and Europe, and
alternative routes would add 40 extra minutes of flight time, airline officials
said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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