U.S. Delivers Oral Protest Over North Korea Spy Plane Intercept
(March 10 State Department response to reporter's question) (180)
Following is the text of the State Department's response to a question
taken at the March 10 regular State Department briefing on North
Korea's interception of a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the Sea of
Japan March 2.
(begin text)
Taken Questions
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 10, 2003
Taken Question at March 10, 2003 Press Briefing
North Korea: RC135 Intercept Protest (Taken Question)
Question: Have we lodged a formal complaint with the North Koreans
over their intercept of a U.S. reconnaissance plane? If so, how, when,
where?
Answer: We delivered an oral protest through the New York channel on
Monday, March 10. We reiterated our call on the North Koreans to
adhere to international standards of behavior and avoid any further
provocative or escalatory steps. We told the North Koreans that their
provocations run counter to the international community's clear desire
for a peaceful diplomatic path to ensuring a nuclear weapons-free
Korean peninsula.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
