The International Civil Aviation Organization has denied a report that the U.N. agency was planning to send a team to North Korea to conduct "an on-site inspection" to ensure the safety of international flights from the country's missile launches, a spokesman told The Japan Times on Monday.
Citing officials with the Montreal-based ICAO, Kyodo News reported Sunday that North Korea had agreed to allow staff from the agency to conduct the inspection. That report said an official with the North's General Administration of Civil Aviation gave the assurance when high-ranking ICAO representatives visited the country in May.
It said the 192-member ICAO was now planning to send its personnel next year in order to verify what measures North Korea, which is a member of the group, has taken to keep unannounced missile launches in check as it pledged.