When the author was working in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Secretariat, he was made aware of concerns arising with regard to the issue of numerous instances where aircraft of Korean Air, when entering the airspace of the country of its nationality, had lost all communications with air traffic services, which caused potential danger to the safety of the aircraft and persons therein. Some suspected that exogenous electromagnetic interference with air navigation originating from the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea was causing these communication lapses and wondered whether the matter could be placed before the ICAO Council for consideration. The author’s advice was that any member of the ICAO Council had the right to submit a working paper to the Council in general terms, as at that time, there was no concrete proof of such interference by the North Koreans. As this article shows, there have been numerous media reports of such incursions experienced by the Republic of Korea and evidence that ICAO has taken some action towards addressing the issue. Such action taken, both directly and through the release of guidance material, as well as the legal issues that emerge from this potentially dangerous threat, are discussed in this article.
Air and Space Law