According to a report by the state-run Xinhua News Agency, a new charter service from Pyongyang was launched in the middle of the conflicts on the Korean Peninsula. The inaugural flight from the capital of North Korea landed to Dandong City in the northeastern China on Tuesday.
The inauguration of the charter service comes in the middle of the ongoing conflict on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has been conducting missile and nuclear tests, which the country says are in response to the United States and South Korea’s joint military drills.
The North Korea’s national carrier, Air Koryo, will provide the service two times a week. Using the official name for North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Xinhua said that the flight will connect Pyongyang with the "booming" border town of Dandong that is "mainly engaged in border trade with the DPRK."
Air Koryo provides flights to only a few destinations. Among these are regular flights to China’s capital of Beijing and northern China's Shenyang city.
In the past few months, traders in Dandong have suffered from a slump in business. They complained and pointed at Beijing as it appeared to become more willing to tighten cross-border trade as an answer to the missile tests conducted by Pyongyang.
China, on a political front, has appealed for a “dual suspension” in which North Korea ceases its nuclear tests and the United States suspends its joint drills with South Korea.
During U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit two weeks ago, China and the United States have come to an agreement to cooperate using both sanctions and diplomacy to convince North Korea to distract from nuclear and missile tests.
However, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has headed a rocket engine test, which, according to him, is “of historic significance.” According to North Korea state media, the test was conducted alongside Tillerson’s visit to China.
The new charter service from Pyongyang to Dandong is hoped to signal North Korea’s diversion from their nuclear ambitions.