DPRK's Air Koryo nearing relaunch - report

US OFAC designates two Air Koryo agents

The United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned two Air Koryo (JS, Pyongyang) agents for their alleged involvement in arms trafficking.

Ri Sok is the North Korean carrier's agent in Dandong, a border city in China, who has allegedly been involved in transporting electronic parts on behalf of the North Korean Ministry of Rocket Industry (MORI). While OFAC did not specify whether Ri was directly involved in the MORI-run ballistic missiles programme, both the ministry and the Munitions Industry Department (MID) are sanctioned, which prevents them from legally importing any goods.

In turn, Yan Zhiyong is a logistics manager with Air Koryo and was allegedly involved in trafficking goods for the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea's intelligence office, via a Beijing-registered front company.

Air Koryo was designated by OFAC in early 2016. The carrier is the sole commercial airline operating in North Korea. While its primary activity is, nominally, the commercial transport of passengers and cargo, OFAC alleges it also carries military parts for the regime, including Scud-B...

Ukraine severs DPRK ties, Air Koryo's Antonov fleet at risk

The airworthiness of two An-148-100s operated by North Korea's Air Koryo (JS, Pyongyang) may be at risk after Ukraine severed all ties with the reclusive state, US-based research website NK News has reported.

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), depended on Ukrainian manufacturer Antonov Design Bureau for the provision of maintenance expertise and spare parts to ensure the aircraft's airworthiness.

However, Kyiv severed all remaining ties with North Korea after Pyongyang recognised the independence of the two Russian-backed and -controlled breakaway polities in eastern Ukraine, the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, becoming the third UN member state to grant them recognition after Russia and Syria.

Even though North Korea is subject to wide-ranging international sanctions mostly related to its ongoing ballistic missile and nuclear programmes, in contrast with sanctions imposed on Russia or Iran, aviation parts have been excluded from the trade ban.

The two Antonov regional jets are Air Koryo's most modern aircraft at just 8.6 years of age on average. The only other post-Cold War aircraft...

US ratchets up sanctions on Air Koryo

The United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated four North Korean entities for support provided to Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programme, and the country's sanctioned flag carrier Air Koryo (JS, Pyongyang).

The list of newly sanctioned entities includes Air Koryo Trading Corporation (AKTC), the commercial arm of Air Koryo. However, the sanction on AKTC are not related directly to air transport but rather to "providing, or attempting to provide, financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of, Ministry of Rocket Industry (MoRI)". OFAC alleges that AKTC was used as a front for the acquisition of various dual-use goods outside of North Korea and then shipped them back to the country, where they were used for the ballistic missile programme. AKTC was also allegedly involved in acquiring luxury goods subject to export sanctions for North Korean elites.

In turn, the Far Eastern Bank was sanctioned for the provision of financial services to Air Koryo and other North Korean state-owned companies....

Russia mulls restoring grounded An-148s, Tu-204/214s