North Korea and Russia ink aviation agreement to improve safety

Two sides pledge to align maintenance standards, a move an expert suggests aims to boost cooperation amid sanctions

Russia and North Korea have concluded a new agreement designed to improve safety and maintenance standards of their carriers, a move that one expert said appears to be part of joint efforts to increase cooperation as they confront growing international isolation.

DPRK Ambassador Sin Hong-chol and Russian deputy transport minister Igor Chalik signed the deal late last week, according to North Korean state media. Russia’s transport ministry stated that the agreement ensures two-way recognition of safety checks, training certifications, flight simulator standards and mutually recognized maintenance and inspection standards.

Ed Condit, a retired commercial pilot and aviation consultant, told NK News the deal could be a boon for DPRK flagship Air Koryo, which he said ran “mostly Russian-built aircraft.” The agreement “may pave the way for greater support mechanisms for Air Koryo to operate in some capacity,” he said.

North Korea imported nearly $1 million worth of plane parts for its fleet of Russian Tupolev jets in 2020, and the aviation agreement had been in the works since at least last year.

But the deal is unlikely to improve the country’s decrepit fleet of aircraft unless it resumes regular international travel, according to Condit.

“Improving ‘flight safety’ seems curious since there have been very few movements of Air Koryo due to the coronavirus and U.N. sanctions,” he explained. Flight-tracking data identified only four flights in 2021, and while state media and satellite imagery have shown other unrecorded flights, the overall frequency of air travel since Feb. 2020 appears to remain far below pre-pandemic levels.

North Korea has barred all international flights since early 2020 as part of its anti-COVID-19 campaign, save for three Air Koryo cargo planes that made a round trip to Shenyang, China in May to pick up medical supplies.

It’s unclear if and when the DPRK will reopen its borders. The country remains unvaccinated, and Pyongyang appears to be in no hurry to change the status quo even after the omicron variant likely infected millions of North Koreans.

In the meantime, DPRK-Russian aviation deals might be a way for Pyongyang and Moscow to further consolidate ties in the face of increasing isolation, according to North Korea-Russia relations expert and NK Pro contributor Anthony Rinna.

“This [agreement] could signal a desire to make aviation standards more complementary between the two countries in anticipation of continued shared alienation from the West,” he told NK News.

Russia might also be eager to boost its aircraft industry in light of sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine, Rinna added.

NK News reporting suggests that North Korea’s aviation sector could also become reliant on Russian aid for two of its Ukraine-built planes after Kyiv severed ties with Pyongyang earlier this year. nknews.org