North Korean airline opens new route to Chinese border city
Flight from Dandong to Pyongyang could be sign Beijing doesn’t want to isolate pariah state despite global condemnation over missile programme
A flight route officially opened between Pyongyang and the Chinese border city of Dandong on Tuesday to woo more tourists to the reclusive state despite strained ties between the two nations.
The launch of the route, operated by North Korea’s Air Koryo, is not a violation of international sanctions against Pyongyang, but could deliver the message that China does not want to act too harshly against its impoverished neighbour.
News of the service comes ahead of a planned summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Florida next week, where the two leaders are likely to discuss the North Korea nuclear issue.
Trump complained in a tweet earlier this month that North Korea was behaving very badly and China had done “little to help”.
Air Koryo crew welcomed disembarking passengers at Pyongyang International Airport with flowers after a flight from Dandong, which lies on the banks of the Yalu River in Liaoning (遼寧) province, Xinhua reported.
The Antonov An-148 plying the route can carry about 75 passengers and will make round trips on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Tourists previously entering North Korea via Dandong had to take the train on a six-hour journey to reach Pyongyang.
Air Koryo, North Korea’s only airline, also has direct flights from Pyongyang to Beijing and the Liaoning capital, Shenyang.
Relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have cooled sharply in recent months, especially after China stopped importing coal from the North in compliance with a United Nations resolution.
Sun Xingjie, a professor of geopolitics at Jilin University, said the addition of the route did not suggest relations between the two countries were improving. “The spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said China would execute sanctions in a serious, careful and comprehensive manner,” Sun said. “If China breached the agreement, it would be a slap to its own face.”
Chinese airlines have cut a number of flights to South Korea, amid Beijing’s complaints about Seoul’s deployment of a missile defence shield.
At yesterday’s regular press conference, ministry spokesman Lu Kang denied the opening of the route was connected to Beijing’s soured relations with Seoul over the missile shield.
“Although we resolutely oppose North Korea’s nuclear weapon development programme, it is legitimate for China and North Korea to maintain normal bilateral ties,” Lu said. “I don’t see any logic [in tying the two issues].”
Travel agencies say about 300 Chinese tourists enter North Korea via Dandong daily. The number is capped at 500 a day
