09-151.pdf

under UNC and South Korean control in the West Sea. The UNC/
MAC called the 407th MAC meeting held on September 1. The
UNC/MAC Senior Member, Rear Admiral James C. Storms III, said he
was directed by the UNC Commander to charge North Korea “with a
premeditated and unprovoked act of aggression against the UNC.” He
also claimed that the act could seriously threaten peace. The UNC/MAC
argued that North Korea in June had deliberately deployed an SA-2
missile launching site near Chokta-ri in the Ongjin peninsula with the
purpose of attacking unarmed UNC reconnaissance flights, having full
knowledge of both the flight path and the frequency of flights.
If the aircraft had been shot down on a routine mission in
international airspace, the Korean peninsula would have been brought
to the brink of a major confrontation. He further warned that the UNC
would take necessary measures to ensure the safety of its aircraft and
crew and would react against any future such attacks if North Korea
attacked any aircraft again in the same area. He urged North Korea to
conduct an investigation of the attack, punish those responsible and
ensure that such hostile acts would not recur in the future. The
KPA/CPV Senior Member, Major General Han, responded that the
SR-71 “intruded into North Korean airspace to carry out espionage
activities.”
Espionage work was a serious infringement of sovereignty and a
vicious military provocation. He denied that the North had launched
missiles at the aircraft but claimed that the UNC “fabricated the absurd
incident” to slander and defame North Korea at the conference table.
He added: “In fact, it is your customary practice that you commit
provocation against others first and charge others with provocation
before the world public.” When closing, he complained again that the
Continued Tension but Renewed Dialogue during the 1980s
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