Top official warns military satellites ‘serious risk’ to civil aviation, shipping’ in North Korea

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 28th Nov. UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Mohamed Khaled Khiari on Monday briefed the members of the UNSC in New York about the recent launch of a reconnaissance satellite by North Korea which he said it presents a ‘serious risk’ to international civil aviation and shipping.

Mohamed Khaled Khiari, told ambassadors the satellite had been loaded onto a rocket launched on 21 November.

The National Aerospace Technology Administration of North Korea announced that day that it was the first of several intelligence-gathering satellites to be launched “in a short span of time”.

Mr. Khiari said “The DPRK’s launches represent a serious risk to international civil aviation and maritime traffic,”

He added that Pyongyang had failed to issue airspace or maritime safety notifications to relevant UN bodies (the International Maritime Organization, International Civil Aviation Organization, or International Telecommunications Union), although the Japanese Coast Guard had been informed.

Mr. Khiari said sovereign states do have the right to benefit from peaceful space activities, but Security Council resolutions prohibit North Korea from conducting any launches using ballistic missile technology.

Secretary General António Guterres strongly reiterated his call on the DPRK to fully comply with its international obligations and resume dialogue to achieve the goal of sustainable peace and the “complete and verifiable denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula.

Mr. Khiari stressed “the increase in nuclear rhetoric on the Korean Peninsula is deeply concerning.”

He said that the DPRK continues to implement a five-year military plan unveiled in January 2021, which includes developing a military reconnaissance satellite also called ‘spy satellites’ with various other weapons systems including tactical nuclear weapons.

Mr. Khiari noted that the DPRK has adopted a constitutional amendment to enshrine its policy on nuclear forces in the Constitution.

He emphasized “As such, the DPRK has consistently demonstrated its strong intention to continue pursuing its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions.”

He called on the authorities to refrain from such actions.

Mr. Khiari reiterated that with growing tensions on the Peninsula, it is important to re-establish communication between the two Koreas, through military channels, while exercising maximum restraint to avoid unintended accidents or miscalculations.

He called on Security Council Members to “unite and explore practical measures to halt the current negative trend” for which all the tools of dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiation, should be used in keeping with Council resolutions, aimed at full denuclearization.