Member nations of the International Maritime Organization(IMO) have assessed that their latest resolution condemning North Korea's missile tests was appropriate.
According to Voice of America, IMO members gave the assessment in a draft report on the last day of a Maritime Safety Committee meeting on Friday.
The report said that missile launches without prior notification posed a high risk to international shipping lanes, jeopardized seafarers' lives, posed a danger to ships in those shipping lanes and to inhabitants of the adjacent countries and, therefore, it was appropriate to discuss the matter at the IMO.
It went on to say that North Korea's so-called satellite launches were a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions which prohibit the launch of any object using ballistic missile technology and the North should withdraw any plans to launch so-called satellites.
The IMO adopted the resolution on May 31, its first against North Korean missile tests, just hours after Pyongyang’s botched spy satellite launch. The North, a member of the IMO, has slammed the resolution as “unfair and illegal” saying it will never accept it.
Under the Worldwide Navigational Warning Service, countries planning missile or satellite launches or maritime drills should notify relevant parties at least five days prior so that adjustments can be made. North Korea alerted Japan of its launch plan just two days in advance.