North Korea resumed international flights three years after Covid-19

An international commercial flight from North Korea arrived in Beijing, China, the first since the country began to ease the closure of its borders decreed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

North Korea closed its borders at the beginning of 2020 in response to the spread of the virus responsible for Covid-19, and until recent weeks it had not shown any sign of opening.

Last month, however, Chinese and Russian officials attended a large military parade in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and last week, a delegation of North Korean athletes was allowed to participate in a taekwondo competition in Kazakhstan.

This Tuesday, the flight JS151 Pyongyang-Beijing of the national airline Air Koryo landed in the morning hours of Tuesday in the Chinese capital, according to the arrivals screen, the AFP news agency reported.

Journalists present at the Beijing-Capital airport saw just two North Koreans leaving the arrivals gate.

Both were recognizable for wearing cards with the faces of former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, respectively the grandfather and father of the current leader Kim of the communist country, Jong-un.

One of the two passengers is General Kim Jin, according to Colin Zwirko, an analyst for the NK News web portal, specializing in North Korean news. Neither he nor the other passenger made statements to the press.

In the opposite direction, an Air Koryo flight took off from Beijing bound for Pyongyang, according to a flight tracking website.

On Monday, an Air Koryo flight scheduled to land in Beijing was suddenly cancelled, with no reason given.

Asked about the issue, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed the resumption of commercial flights between China and North Korea.

According to NK News, Air Koryo also plans two flights between Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East, and Pyongyang next Friday and Monday.