1. On July 26, the Foreign Ministers of the five middle-power countries of MITKA -- Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia -- announced a joint statement concerning the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that occurred in eastern Ukraine on July 17.

2. In the statement, the Foreign Ministers expressed their deepest condolences to the families and the governments of the countries of the victims as well as the international organizations concerned. In addition, they called for a prompt international investigation into the incident and underscored the need to strengthen international cooperation for securing safe navigation of civilian aircraft in order to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. In this vein, the Ministers expressed their full support for UN Security Council Resolution 2166 adopted on July 21, 2014, while urging that the on-going Ukraine crisis be resolved as soon as possible through peaceful means.

3. The ROK, which experienced the shoot-down of Korean Airlines (KAL) Flight 007 in 1983 and the bombing of KAL Flight 858 in 1987, is a leading country in international aviation sector as can be seen from its ranking 6th in the scale of international air transport. It is also a country where safe navigation of civilian aircraft is severely threatened by continued test launches of ballistic missiles conducted by North Korea without prior notices. As such, the country is keenly interested in strengthening the international system for securing safe navigation of international civilian flights and therefore led the issuance of the MIKTA joint statement.

○ In the wake of the shoot-down of the KAL aircraft in 1983, the ROK played a leading role in adding Article 3 (b) -- “Aircraft used in military, customs and police services shall be deemed to be state aircraft” -- to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation in the course of the Convention being amended to strengthen the safety of international civilian flights.

4. The MIKTA joint statement marks the second of its kind following the first announced by the MIKTA Foreign Ministers at their second meeting in April to strongly call on North Korea to refrain from provocative actions, including its threats of a third nuclear test. The statements demonstrate the tangible role of MIKTA, launched to promote common interests of the international community and the global governance, and will serve as the basis for stepping up cooperation at the UN and other international stages.

5. The ROK, which has been leading MIKTA since its launch, will serve as the MIKTA coordinator starting from the third MIKTA Foreign Ministers’ meeting scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in September. In the first half of the year 2015, the ROK will host a MIKTA Foreign Ministers’ meeting to further contribute to the advancement of MIKTA and continue making diplomacy with MIKTA an important part of its middle-power diplomacy. 


                              Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation