The U.N. aviation agency has adopted a decision raising serious concerns over North Korea’s recent jamming of GPS navigation signals, specifying the North by its name for the first time, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Monday.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted the decision at its latest council meeting in Montreal, Canada, from June 10-21, urging Pyongyang to stop the recurrence of such illegal acts, the ministry said in a release.
The ICAO plans to send the North a letter under its council president’s name to inform it of the decision.
The decision came after Seoul raised the North’s repeated jamming of GPS signals with three international agencies, comprising the ICAO, the International Telecommunication Union and the International Maritime Organization, requesting due measures be taken.
The North staged GPS jamming attacks near the northwestern border areas multiple times between May 29 and June 2, along with the sending of thousands of trash-carrying balloons over the border into the South.
It is the first time that the ICAO has referred to North Korea specifically by its name in the decision, the ministry said.
The ICAO has adopted similar statements over the North’s GPS jamming in 2012 and 2016, but it did not refer to the North by its name in either of them.
“It is seen not only as a strong message from ICAO to North Korea but also as a demonstration of the international community’s united response to the dangers posed by North Korea’s actions in terms of aviation safety … and a strong warning and determination to respond accordingly,” the ministry said.
The latest decision calls for Pyongyang to comply with the ICAO decisions, including the previous ones adopted regarding its similar illegal acts in the past, and states grave concerns about the GPS signal jamming.
It also urges the North to not repeat the illegal acts in the future.
The act of disrupting GPS signals violates the ITU charter prohibiting interference with communications from other U.N. member states. It also runs against the ICAO and IMO conventions on the protection of private airplanes and safe navigation of ships.
North Korea is a member of the ITU, ICAO and IMO.
The ICAO decision will be made available for public online access in six languages, the ministry said.
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