Air Koryo flights appear halted after brief resumption

Air Koryo flights between Pyongyang, Beijing and Vladivostok appear to have stalled again after resuming last month for the first time since the pandemic...

An Air Koryo flight at the international airport in Vladivostok, Russia, on Aug. 25. It was the first between Vladivostok and Pyongyang since North shuttered its borders with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. [YONHAP]

Air Koryo flights between Pyongyang, Beijing and Vladivostok appear to have stalled again after resuming last month for the first time since the pandemic.

The latest recorded flight from Pyongyang to Beijing on Air Koryo, the state-run airline of North Korea, was on Aug. 29, according to a VOA report Wednesday.

It was the fourth one between the two cities since Aug. 22, when North Korea began to resume flights to Beijing and Vladivostok for the first time since it had shuttered its borders from February 2020 citing Covid-19 concerns.

Air Koryo flights to Vladivostok also stopped after the last one on Aug. 28.

Local media said the flights may not have been signs of resumption of flights between the three cities, but that the North Korean regime may have used them to repatriate workers from China and Russia to prevent them from defecting.

The VOA reported that the four flights to and from Beijing and the other two to and from Vladivostok could have carried altogether up to 900 passengers.

The resumption of flights was largely interpreted as a sign that the three countries were working to strengthen their strategic relationship.

Russian and Chinese officials were seen standing side-by-side with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a military parade in July showcasing the North’s missiles and drones.

The parade was held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which began with the North Korean invasion of South Korea. China sent hundreds of thousands of its troops to aid the North during the war.

Air Koryo flights used to fly to a dozen cities including those in Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan and Kuwait, in addition to cities in China and Russia, until 2017.

Following United Nations sanctions on the North for its nuclear weapons test, the airline was banned except in China and Russia.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]