According to this report in the London Times:
International passenger flights have been diverted after the government of North Korea threatened military action against South Korean airliners in the latest escalation of verbal hostilities between the two enemies.
Both of South Korea’s airlines, Korean Air and Asiana, have diverted flights from the east after a statement on North Korea’s official media which implied a threat of attack against civilian aviation. It came in a statement denouncing a joint military exercise between South Korea and the US, which Pyongyang accuses of representing preparations for an invasion of the North.
Under an international agreement, North Korea receives €685 (£610) for each jumbo jet which passes through its airspace, but flights were diverted after yesterday’s warning, adding as much as an hour to flight times and costing airlines an extra four million won (£1,800) per flight.
Read the full article here:
Passenger flights diverted after North Korea threats
Times of London
Richard Lloyd Parry
3/6/2009
