(Beijing) China confirmed on Monday that it had given the green light to the resumption of air links with North Korea, after the unexplained cancellation of the first commercial flight since 2020 of the North Korean national company.
North Korea was the first country to seal its borders more than three years ago, when neighboring China saw the first cases of a mysterious virus that would cause the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since January 2020, Pyongyang has kept its borders closed, with rare exceptions.
An Air Koryo flight, originally scheduled for Beijing at 9:50 a.m. (9:50 p.m. Sunday EST) on Monday morning, was unexpectedly announced as “cancelled” two hours after its supposed arrival time, the report found. AFP.
Several media were watching for the arrival of this flight which would have been for North Korea its very first commercial link with foreign countries for more than three years.
Beijing-capital airport told AFP that Air Koryo had given no explanation for the cancellation.
Asked about this, a spokesman for Chinese diplomacy confirmed the resumption of flights between China and North Korea.
“The Chinese side has approved the flight plans of the North Korean company Air Koryo for the Pyongyang-Beijing and Beijing-Pyongyang routes,” said spokesman Wang Wenbin to the press, without specifying when this authorization was granted. given.
The company’s offices in Beijing were closed on Monday during an impromptu visit by AFP.
A man was dozing inside on a couch. Two portraits of North Korea’s former leaders were visible on a wall.
A second individual told AFP “not knowing” why the Air Koryo flight was cancelled.
This person, who did not show up, invited him to consult the Rondong Sinmun, an official North Korean daily, for “accurate” information.
After three years of isolation due to COVID-19, the signs of a possible reopening of the North Korean borders are multiplying.
Last month, Russian and Chinese officials attended a military parade in Pyongyang, the first foreigners allowed to visit North Korea in years.
North Korea also sent athletes from China last week to a taekwondo competition in Kazakhstan.
No athlete representing North Korea has been seen competing overseas since the start of the pandemic.
“There are signs of the borders being reopened by North Korea,” the South Korean Unification Ministry told AFP in Seoul.
“But it is still difficult (at this stage) to determine whether the reopening will be total or gradual and limited. »
According to the site specializing in North Korea NK News, Air Koryo must carry out two flights in the coming days between Vladivostok (Russia) and Pyongyang.