North Korean Airline Makes First International Flight Since COVID

Facts

• On Tuesday, North Korea completed its first international commercial flight since the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020.¹
• Air Koryo's flight JS151 left Pyongyang in the morning and landed in Beijing at 9:16 a.m. local time. It's unknown how many passengers the flight was carrying.²
• The news comes after a scheduled Air Koryo flight to Beijing was canceled the day prior without explanation. A diplomatic source has also informed Reuters that Air Koryo is scheduled to begin flights to Russia's Vladivostok on Friday.³
• Both Russian and Chinese government delegations flew to Pyongyang for the first time since the pandemic, while last week North Korean taekwondo athletes traveled through China via bus to reach a tournament in Kazakhstan.⁴
• Cha Du-hyeogn, principal fellow at Asan Institute for Policy Studies, stated that the limited reopening of travel between borders served "economic and political purposes," claiming that North Korea wished to "maximize its value" to China and Russia.⁵

Sources: ¹Independent, ²BBC News, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴Reuters, and ⁵NK News.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by China Daily. North Korea and China's bond is strong with a deep history of resisting US aggression in the region. Both Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping wish to continue to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for the two nations, consolidating friendships, strengthening exchanges, and offering mutual cooperation.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Korea Times. China, Russia, and North Korea are worryingly closer than the world has witnessed in years. The US must act quicker and more decisively to halt this multipolar direction in international relations. If the US fails to attain its foreign policy goals with its allies, the power of a "quasi-triple alliance" will only continue to grow.

Predictions