The thaw in relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) is continuing to gain momentum following an announcement by ICAO that the North has applied to open up new air corridors to the South. The two Koreas do not have any direct air routes between them given the current state of war that still exists despite the signing of a 1953 armistice agreement.
However, with the possibility that a formal peace treaty will be signed later this year, the North's move has given hope to renewed and improved economic ties between the two Koreas.
According to Reuters, ICAO's Asia and Pacific Regional Office in Bangkok received a letter from the North Korean General Administration of Civil Aviation in February, in which it outlined a proposal for the establishment of a new Air Traffic Service (ATS) route between the Pyongyang Flight Information Region (FIR) and the Seoul Incheon FIR in South Korea.
ICAO added that the South Korea Office of Civil Aviation (KOCA) has since expressed its willingness to facilitate and support further discussions on the subject.
"This request will be further discussed among other air navigation and safety matters," during the visit by ICAO Asia and Pacific Regional Director Arun Mishra and Stephen Creamer, head of the agency's Air Navigation Bureau.
