FAA Gives Republic of Korea IASA Rating of Category 2

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced that the Republic
of Korea does not comply with international safety standards set
by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and has
been given a Category 2 rating following a reassessment of the
country's civil aviation authority. The Republic of Korea was
previously rated Category 1.

Under the progressive leadership of the Minister of Construction
and Transportation and the Director General of Civil Aviation, the
government of the Republic of Korea has demonstrated its
commitment to move quickly to correct the issues identified by
the FAA's reassessment. The civil aviation authority of the
Republic of Korea has already implemented several substantive
reform measures and others are underway. The FAA will continue
to remain engaged with the civil aviation authority as it continues
work on its ambitious reform plan. The government of the
Republic of Korea is placing high priority on accomplishing needed
reforms. Putting these reforms into place will allow the civil
aviation authority to fully meet international safety standards. The
FAA will work closely with and support the government of the
Republic of Korea as it works toward meeting this goal.

This announcement is part of the FAA's International Aviation
Safety Assessment (IASA) program, under which the agency
assesses the civil aviation authorities of all countries with air
carriers that operate to the United States and makes that
information available to the public.

The assessments are not an indication of whether individual
foreign carriers are safe or unsafe. Rather, they determine
whether or not foreign civil aviation authorities (CAA) are meeting
ICAO safety standards, not FAA regulations.

Countries with air carriers that fly to the United States must
adhere to the safety standards of ICAO, the United Nations'
technical agency for aviation that establishes international
standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and
maintenance.

The FAA, with the cooperation of the host civil aviation authority,
assesses countries with airlines that have operating rights to or
from the United States or have requested such rights.

Specifically, the FAA determines whether a foreign civil aviation
authority has an adequate infrastructure for international aviation
safety oversight as defined by ICAO Standards, including: 1) laws
enabling the appropriate government office to adopt regulations
necessary to meet the minimum requirements of ICAO; 2) current
regulations that meet those requirements; 3) procedures to carry
out the regulatory requirements; 4) air carrier certification, routine
inspection, and surveillance programs, and 5) organizational and
personnel resources to implement and enforce the above.

The FAA has established two ratings for the status of these civil
aviation authorities at the time of the assessment: (1) does
comply with ICAO standards, (2) does not comply with ICAO
standards.

· Category 1. Does Comply with ICAO Standards: A civil
aviation authority has been assessed by FAA inspectors and has
been found to license and oversee air carriers in accordance with
ICAO aviation safety standards.

· Category 2. Does Not Comply with ICAO Standards:
The FAA assessed this country's CAA and determined that it does
not provide safety oversight of its air carrier operators in
accordance with the minimum safety oversight standards
established by ICAO. This rating is applied if one or more of the
following deficiencies are identified: (1) the country lacks laws or
regulations necessary to support the certification and oversight of
air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards; (2)
the CAA lacks the technical expertise, resources, and organization
to license or oversee air carrier operations; (3) the CAA does not
have adequately trained and qualified technical personnel; (4) the
CAA does not provide adequate inspector guidance to ensure
enforcement of, and compliance with, minimum international
standards; and (5) the CAA has insufficient documentation and
records of certification and inadequate continuing oversight and
surveillance of air carrier operations. This category consists of
two groups of countries.

· One group is countries that have air carriers with existing
operations to the United States at the time of the assessment.
While in Category 2 status, carriers from these countries will be
permitted to continue operations at current levels under heightened
FAA surveillance. Expansion or changes in services to the United
States by such carriers are not permitted while in Category 2,
although new services will be permitted if operated using aircraft
wet-leased from a duly authorized and properly supervised U.S.
carrier or a foreign air carrier from a Category 1 country that is
authorized to serve the United States using its own aircraft.

· The second group is countries that do not have air
carriers with existing operations to the United States at the time of
the assessment. Carriers from these countries will not be
permitted to commence service to the United States while in
Category 2 status, although they may conduct services if
operated using aircraft wet-leased from a duly authorized and
properly supervised U.S. carrier or a foreign air carrier from a
Category 1 country that is authorized to serve the United States
with its own aircraft. No other difference is made between these
two groups of countries while in Category 2.

The FAA has assisted civil aviation authorities with less than
acceptable ratings by providing technical expertise, assistance
with inspections, and training courses. The FAA hopes to work with
other countries through ICAO to address non-compliance with
international aviation safety oversight standards.

The FAA will continue to release the results of safety
assessments to the public as they are completed. First
announced in September 1994, the ratings are part of an ongoing
FAA program to assess all countries with air carriers that operate
to the United States.