Press Releases
International Civil Aviation Organization Council 212th Session
(Responses to Missile Launches by North Korea)
1. On October 7 (October 6 local time), in light of serious concerns about the safety of international civil aviation being generated by North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile launches, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) held the ICAO Council 212th Session in Montreal, where it is headquartered, and discussed responses to this issue.
2. This Council was convened at the request of Japan ahead of the regular ICAO Council Session in November, based on the urgency of responding to the ballistic missile launches by North Korea. 19 countries including Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Uruguay proposed a working document in which the Council strongly condemns North Korea’s actions for the first time and strongly urges North Korea to comply with the ICAO’s international standards on international civil aviation safety. The document was unanimously adopted by the Council.
3. The ICAO Council President and other Council states highly appreciated Japan’s leadership in getting this working document adopted. Furthermore, the ICAO Council President expressed the view that it will be important to urge North Korea more systematically than ever before to comply with the relevant ICAO international standards.
4. In order to ensure the safety of international civil aviation, Japan intends to continue to work closely with the ICAO and the relevant countries to strongly urge North Korea to comply with the ICAO’s international standards.
(Reference)
The Council is the central decision-making and executive body of the ICAO, and is composed of 36 elected member states. Normally, the Council convenes three times a year to perform duties such as submitting an annual activities report to the Assembly, appointing a Council President and Secretary General, and deliberating amendments to the Annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention).
