[9/7/16] There is a tendency for western media to treat Air Koryo, North Korea’s only “commercial” airline, as an opportunity for humor. The fact that it has been named the world’s worst airline by an industry group for four straight years plays a role in the company’s attractiveness as a butt for jokes, as do the propaganda films that play on its small fleet of Tupolev and Antonov jets (there is no volume control) and the mystery meat burgers served by its flight attendants.
But Air Koryo is no joke. It is an arm of the Kim family’s military-gangster complex, implicated in smuggling cash for Pyongyang’s slave labor enterprises, and has been implicated in weapons trafficking. Shutting off its routes to China and Russia should be a top priority for policymakers looking to respond to reckless North Korean behavior—like its belligerent launch of three missiles into the Sea of Japan during the G-20 summit this past weekend.
There is a case to be made that any cooperation with Air Koryo already constitutes a violation of resolutions passed by the U.N. Security Council, most importantly a measure from 2009 that establishes an embargo on “all arms and related materiel, as well as to financial transactions, technical training, advice, services or assistance related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance or use of such arms or materiel.” How can this language apply to a commercial airline like Air Koryo? Because Air Koryo is not a commercial airline, but a branch of the North Korean military. As a U.N.report detailed in 2014:
Air Koryo and all airports or airfields within the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are controlled by the Korean People’s Air Force through its Civil Aviation Bureau. Reportedly, all personnel are members of the air force and all in-country maintenance is conducted by Air Force engineering staff.
As military aircraft are surely “arms” or at least “related material,” it follows that any “financial transaction” with Air Koryo ought to fall under the embargo—but countries with an interest in maintaining a relationship with the Kim family (like Russia and China) ignore this implication. But the military nature of Air Koryo is clear. A photograph obtained by the Washington Free Beacon shows the director general of Air Koryo, a man named Kang Ki Sop, wearing a military uniform and standing with Kim Jong Un and a group of North Korean military officials…CONTINUE READING