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The Pyongyang Flight Information Region (FIR)
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International Civil Aviation Organization arrives in North Korea to conduct safety inspection
Officials with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) arrived in North Korea for a safety inspection after North Korea announced its hopes of establishing a new aviation route between South and North Korea. South Korean government officials announced plans to conduct an examination of UN Security Council sanctions and other areas requiring consideration to establish the route. “In February, we were contacted through the IACO’s local office in Bangkok about North Korea’s hope to establish a route with South Korea,” a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) senior official said on May 7. “While connecting a route merely requires a decision by South and North, there needs to be an examination as to whether any of it violates UNSC Resolutions or the May 24 measures [2010 measures banning inter-Korean economic cooperation],” the official added. “Once the route is established, it could be linked up to routes in China or other international routes [in addition to the Incheon-Pyongyang route],” the official said. In connection with this, Japan’s NHK network reported that two ICAO officials had arrived in North Korea the same day via Beijing International Airport to discuss the North’s proposal to establish the new aviation route. Meeting reporters at Beijing International Airport, ICAO Asia and Pacific Office regional director Arun Mishra and Air Navigation Bureau director Stephen Creamer said they planned to discuss means of ensuring aviation safety while in North Korea. The two officials appear likely to assess North Korea’s exact aims in connection with the route’s establishment and review the related aviation safety system. The timing of February 2018 given for North Korea’s request to establish the new route overlaps with a South Korea visit by Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) Central Committee first vice director Kim Yo-jong and Supreme People’s Assembly Presidium director Kim Yong-nam to attend the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. For their trip, the two used the West Sea aviation route, departing from Pyongyang and changing course toward the West (Yellow) Sea for their arrival at Incheon. UNSC Resolution 2270, adopted by the UNSC in Mar. 2016, imposes strict sanctions on marine vessels and aircraft that have been visited North Korea, including mandatory inspections on cargo originating in or destined for the North. “Even if a new airline route is created, it can’t actually be operated until UN sanctions have been lifted,” a South Korean government official said. “In terms of North Korea’s current airport, my understanding is that Pyongyang Sunan International Airport and Wonsan Kalma Airport would be usable immediately,” the official hopefully noted. By Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent, and Heo Seung, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
