S. Korea says N. Korea's warning on flights against int'l law, inhumane

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, UPDATES throughout)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, March 6 (Yonhap) -- The Seoul government said Friday that North Korea is
violating international law by threatening the safety of South Korean flights in
its airspace and urged Pyongyang to stop its military warnings.
"To militarily threaten the normal operations of civil airplanes not only
violates international rules but is also an inhumane act that can never be
justified," said Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun.
Tension has risen sharply on the Korean Peninsula since North Korea said it is
"compelled to declare that security cannot be guaranteed for South Korean civil
airplanes" in its airspace, adding to concerns that Pyongyang may be preparing
for a missile launch.
North Korea blamed a joint military exercise by South Korea and the United States
set to begin next week for the escalation.
North Korea resumed general-level talks Friday with the U.S.-led United Nations
Command UNC), which oversees the ceasefire along the inter-Korean border. In
first such talks in over six years on Monday, Pyongyang demanded that the annual
joint drill be canceled.
The U.N. command is backed by 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
Pyongyang's latest threat prompted South Korean airliners to reroute flights. The
ministry spokesman 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 two Koreas opened their airspace to each other
in 1997.
Foreign flights would not be affected by the North Korean sanction, he added. "It
is the first time for Pyongyang to turn toward South Korean flights," he said.
South Korea and the U.S. are scheduled to begin their annual Key Resolve and Foal
Eagle drill on Monday. The allies say the annual war drill is purely defensive,
but Pyongyang views it as a preparation for an invasion.
In the 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.
Pyongyang noted that the large-scale war drills are "the first of their kind
since the emergence of the new administration in the United States," in what
appeared to a message to U.S. President Barack Obama. North Korea has been hoping
to mend ties with the new U.S. administration after eight years of largely
combative relations with the George W. Bush White House.
"I do not think that North Koreans will actually shoot down a plane," said Andrei
Lankov, a North Korea specialist from Russia.
"However, the major message is still the same: they want to attract attention,
they are afraid that the U.S. government will forget about North Korea, being
overwhelmed with financial troubles and other issues," he said.
Military sources here said "no unusual activity" has been detected along the
border, but they added the warning may be a sign that North Korea is trying to
clear its airspace before testing its suspected ballistic missile.
North Korea said last month it is preparing to launch a satellite. U.S. and South
Korean intelligence officials believe the planned launch may be a cover for
test-firing its long-range Taepodong-2 missile, which is theoretically capable of
striking the western parts of the United States.
Baek Seung-joo, a North Korea analyst at the state-run Korea Institute for
Defense Analyses, said the most recent warning may be connected to a missile
launch but that it could also be considered "psychological warfare."
"It could possibly be a preparation for a rocket launch. But for that purpose,
North Korea would have to threaten all flights from around the world passing
through its airspace, not just South Korean flights. This seems more like
psychological warfare aimed at bolstering calls in South Korea opposing the U.S.
and the joint war drills," Baek said.
Other countries in the region have threatened sanctions against the North,
regardless of whether it launches a missile or a satellite.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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