North Korea's Flag Carrier Terminates Flights Between Pyongyang, Bangkok: VOA

Yonhap News Agency
Air Koryo
North Korea's national carrier Air Koryo appears to have terminated its once-a-week flight between Pyongyang and Bangkok, a news media reported Wednesday.

According to Washington-based Voice of America (VOA), the flight, which was to arrive in the capital city on Wednesday, did not land at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport.

It said a screening of the airport's website show ed the Air Koryo flight was classified as being "cancelled" with the notice in red letters.

As the Air Koryo flight JS253 did not arrive in Bangkok, the outbound JS254 flight for Pyongyang was automatically cancelled.

Air Koryo flight JS253 flies once a week from Pyongyang to Bangkok via China's northeastern city of Shenyang, carrying mostly Chinese tourists bound for the Thai capital.

Local media reports have said it is a result of the Thai government's recent endorsement of the UN Security Council's fresh sanctions resolution against North Korea that was adopted in March in response to Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January. The North was also penalized for carrying out a banned long-range ballistic missile launch in February.

The sanctions aim to starve the Pyongyang regime of the resources it needs to develop its nuclear and missile programs, and the effective boycott of the Air Koryo flight could be the latest step in that campaign.






Despite the Security Council's additional resolution against North Korea, however, Thailand has maintained political and economic relations with North Korea since 1975 when the two countries formed diplomatic ties.