N. Korean airliner arrives in Beijing in 1st post

North Koreans line up at a check-in counter for Air Koryo, North Korea's national carrier, at Beijing Capital International Airport, Aug. 22. Yonhap

A flight operated by Air Koryo, North Korea's national carrier, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, marking the resumption of commercial flights connecting the two countries after a hiatus of more than 3 1/2 years caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The JS151 flight, which departed from Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport at 9:14 a.m., earlier than its estimated time of arrival of 9:50 a.m.

An arrival and departure board at the airport showed that the flight had arrived in Beijing and that a JS152 flight was scheduled to depart for Pyongyang at 1:05 p.m.

It was not immediately known who the passengers were aboard the flight.

The arrival came a day after two Air Koryo flights that were scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 9:30 a.m. and depart at 1:05 p.m. were abruptly canceled.

It also came days after a team of North Korean athletes made a rare trip across the border on a bus traveling from the North Korean border city of Sinuiju into China to attend a taekwondo event in Kazakhstan.

The rare border crossing was seen as a sign of Pyongyang's border reopening after the secretive regime closed its border with China due to the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. (Yonhap)