Post date: Mar 06, 2014 1:40:14 PM
North Korea (Next Media) - A Chinese passenger plane on Tuesday flew through the trajectory of a rocket launched by North Korea, which did not issue any navigational warning, said South Korea’s Defence Ministry.
A China Southern Airlines plane carrying more than 200 passengers flew fromJapan’s Narita Airport to Shenyang, China, according to a Bloomberg report.
At 4:17 p.m., North Korea launched a rocket northeast from a location near the port city of Wonsan, without giving any warning. According to the Korea Times, the new KN-09 launchers were used and the shots flew around 155 kilometres. North Korealaunched a total of seven projectiles on Tuesday.The rocket reached an altitude of 20 kilometres. Seven minutes after its launch, the aircraft, which was flying at a height of 10 kilometres, crossed the rocket’s trajectory.
“The rocket could have hit the plane on its way down,” said Kim Min Seok, a spokesman of South Korea’s Defence Ministry. “North Korea had not given any warning. It was an unexpected and immoral act that goes against international norms.” The ministry has notified China through “certain channels” of the closeness of the trajectory, he said.
The Chinese government has thus far remained silent, while China Southern Airlines did not respond to media enquiries.
While the Koreas had been enjoying improved relations recently, North Korea has been enraged by the joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, which the north considers as a plot against the regime.
SOURCES: SCMP, CNN, Bloomberg, Yonhap Agency, Korea Times