Pyonyang told to retract airline threat

North Korea has been called on to retract its threat against South Korean passenger planes flying near its airspace.

Seoul has condemned the threats as unjustifiable and “inhumane”, and also said it is taking measures to secure the safety of its airlines.

The reaction came a day after the North warned it could not guarantee security for South Korean civil aircraft flying near its airspace and accused the US and South Korea of attempting to provoke a nuclear war with the upcoming joint military drills.

South Korea’s two major airlines – Korean Air and Asiana Airlines – rerouted their flights to stay clear of North Korean airspace, following a statement from the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland read: “The North 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, while the military exercises are under way.”

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