{"id":323729,"date":"2026-04-03T04:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=323729"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:37:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T04:37:04","slug":"air-chinas-beijing-pyongyang-resumption-stirs-economic-hopes-inside-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/air-chinas-beijing-pyongyang-resumption-stirs-economic-hopes-inside-north-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"Air China&#8217;s Beijing-Pyongyang resumption stirs economic hopes inside North Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">North Korea resumed its first direct Air China flights from Beijing in six years on March 30, and the news has spread quickly inside the country, stirring genuine excitement among North Korean people who hope the resumption will bring Chinese traders back and improve daily living condition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">A Daily NK source in North Hamgyong province reported Wednesday that news of the flight resumption was circulating rapidly through Hoeryong. &#8220;There are also rumors going around that Chinese merchants will start coming back in,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;People are reacting with a lot of anticipation and delight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Air China, China&#8217;s state-owned flag carrier, operated its first Beijing-Pyongyang service in six years on March 30, flying the CA121 route once weekly. The flight came approximately 18 days after <a class=\"underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current\/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current\" href=\"https:\/\/www.upi.com\/Top_News\/World-News\/2026\/03\/12\/North-Korea-China-pyongyang-beijing-train-service-resumes\/8431773307723\/\">passenger train service between Beijing and Pyongyang was also restored on March 12<\/a>, the first time cross-border rail links had operated since 2020.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold\"><strong>Hopes of a Chinese economic windfall<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">What North Korean people are most eagerly anticipating, the source said, is the economic activity that Chinese visitors could bring with them. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese nationals frequently stayed in private homes for extended periods, and those households that hosted them or did business with them saw their circumstances improve noticeably. North Korean people are now hoping for a return to those conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Traders in the <em>jangmadang<\/em>, North Korea&#8217;s informal markets, are particularly hopeful. The source said many are recalling how, prior to the pandemic, they were able to sell directly to visiting Chinese merchants without incurring transportation costs, boosting their margins. With Chinese traders back in the picture, they expect market turnover to increase and the <em>jangmadang<\/em> overall to become more active.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Chinese business figures who had previously traveled regularly to North Korea are also paying close attention. A source with ties to the North Korea business community in China said that since the resumption of both train and air services, entrepreneurs there have been showing &#8220;considerable interest&#8221; in travel to North Korea as well as in business opportunities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Whether those expectations will be met is far from certain. The source cautioned that what North Korean people are hoping for remains just that: hope. Authorities, the source noted, are prioritizing large-scale factory-level investment over individual commerce. Still, the source added, if more Chinese nationals invest in factories, workers at those facilities may at least begin receiving proper food rations again, meaning even state-directed investment could improve everyday conditions in some way.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold\"><strong>Young North Koreans see the gap<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Not all reactions to the news have been optimistic. Among young North Korean people in Hoeryong, the flight resumption has prompted a different, more bitter response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">&#8220;People in other countries can just buy a ticket and fly abroad whenever they feel like it. We can only dream,&#8221; some young people were reportedly saying. Others remarked that they cannot even travel to Pyongyang freely, let alone go abroad, and several were quoted as saying they wondered whether they would ever be able to board a plane before they die.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">&#8220;Here in North Korea, it is almost impossible to imagine an ordinary person flying abroad on a plane,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;The fact that young people immediately started saying &#8216;I wish I could go abroad on a plane&#8217; the moment they heard about the flight resumption tells you everything.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">The one-way fare on the Air China route is approximately 2,040 Chinese yuan (about $280), and travelers entering North Korea are required to present a health certificate, reflecting continued official concern about the introduction of infectious diseases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">The flight resumption is the latest step in a gradual restoration of people-to-people links between North Korea and <a class=\"underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current\/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current\" href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/world-news\/china-resumes-direct-flights-to-north-korea-after-6-yrs-trains-restart-too-126033000238_1.html\">China, its largest trading partner<\/a>. <a class=\"underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current\/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current\" href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/world-news\/china-resumes-direct-flights-to-north-korea-after-6-yrs-trains-restart-too-126033000238_1.html\">Chinese tour groups accounted for an estimated 80 to 90% of foreign visitors<\/a> to North Korea before the pandemic, and observers have been watching closely to see how far and how fast Pyongyang will allow that flow to resume.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20260402-5\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<!-- Daily NK \u2014 A Note to Readers \u2014 End of Article Pattern -->\n<div style=\"background:#1a1a1a;border-top:3px solid #cc0000;padding:0;margin-top:32px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;\">\n  <div style=\"padding:20px 24px 24px;\">\n\n    <!-- Header row -->\n    <div style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:12px;margin-bottom:14px;\">\n      <span style=\"background:#cc0000;color:#fff;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:9px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.15em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:3px 8px;flex-shrink:0;\">A Note to Readers<\/span>\n      <div style=\"flex:1;height:1px;background:#333;\"><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Intro line -->\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:15px;color:#fff;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.4;margin:0 0 12px;\">Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n\n    <!-- Body -->\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13px;color:#bbb;line-height:1.75;margin:0 0 16px;\">\n      Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. 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A Daily NK source in North Hamgyong province [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":323730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,2084],"tags":[274,759,773,1439,2611],"class_list":["post-323729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-china-north-korea-relations","tag-pyongyang","tag-china","tag-north-hamgyong-province","tag-hoeryong","tag-jangmadang"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Air China resumes Pyongyang flights, stirring hope<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"North Koreans in Hoeryong welcome Air China&#039;s Beijing-Pyongyang resumption, hoping Chinese traders will return.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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