Five middle powers strongly condemn downing of Malaysian jet

SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) -- Foreign ministers from five middle powers on Saturday "strongly condemned" the recent downing of a Malaysian airliner in Ukraine, calling for those responsible for the tragedy to be held accountable.

The top diplomats from the so-called MIKTA -- Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia -- issued a joint statement in which they fully support the United Nations Security Council's resolution condemning the downing of the plane and demanding access to the crash site.

On July 17, the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a surface-to-air missile in war-torn Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

"We believe this act is a serious violation of international law," the statement read.

Among the members to MIKTA, Australia's and Indonesia's citizens were among the victims.

"In order to prevent recurrence of such tragedies, we recognize the need to strengthen international cooperation for securing safe navigation of civilian aircraft," it showed.

South Korea has strongly pushed for issuing the joint statement as the country's civilian airplanes underwent similar tragedies twice in the past, and North Korea's continued launches of ballistic missiles pose threats to the safety of civilian planes, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.

In 1983, the Soviet Union shot down Korean Air KE-007 after it went off its New York-Ankara-Seoul route and mistakenly entered USSR airspace, killing all 269 people aboard.

North Korea has recently stepped up a series of provocations by firing off short-range ballistic Scud missiles into the waters off its east coast without giving prior notice to members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

MIKTA was created in September 2013. South Korea will start serving as the coordinator of the group this September.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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