China’s flag carrier resumed direct flights between Beijing and Pyongyang on Monday, a move that followed the recent restart of passenger train service between the two capitals. Chinese state media reported that the Air China flight was greeted by China’s ambassador to North Korea, Wang Yajun, alongside other diplomatic staff.
Passenger rail links from China to North Korea had been reinstated on March 12. Both flights and cross-border trains were suspended at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020; North Korea’s own carrier, Air Koryo, had already resumed Beijing–Pyongyang service in 2023.
During the pandemic Pyongyang closed its borders to foreign tourists, but it has started to relax those restrictions: a Russian tour group visited in 2024. Before the ban, Chinese tour groups accounted for roughly 90% of visitors to North Korea, and analysts noted surprise at how long Chinese tours took to resume.
China remains North Korea’s largest trading partner and principal ally, even as Beijing has voiced concern about Pyongyang’s missile tests that could threaten South Korea and the United States. In a sign of recent diplomatic engagement, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a major Chinese military parade in Beijing in September, the first time in decades a North Korean leader participated in such an event.