North Korea has stressed the need for free maritime transit and guarantees for the safety of ships' crews at the Assembly of International Maritime Organization.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported that a North Korean representative said in a speech last Tuesday that the organization should bar illegal acts executed in the name of counterterrorism that infringe upon the safety of crew members and the unimpeded maritime transit of vessels of sovereign nations.

He also called on the body to curb unfair and politically motivated acts against ships or crew members of other nations.

The speech is considered a call by Pyongyang for an end to such occurrences as a 2003 incident in which U.S. and Spanish vessels briefly seized a North Korean boat that was carrying Scud missile parts and various construction materials to Yemen.