North Korea informs UN agency of plan to cut air traffic communication with ROK



News North Korea informs UN agency of plan to cut air traffic communication with ROK Seoul says ICAO was notified last year about plan to sever channel from 2025, but calls ‘currently operating normally’ Joon Ha Park \| Shreyas Reddy February 13, 2025 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Air traffic control room at a South Korean airport \| Image: Korea Office of Civil Aviation North Korea notified a U.N. aviation organization last year that it plans to cut off an air traffic control communication channel with South Korea starting in 2025, Seoul’s unification ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said Pyongyang informed the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of its intention to cease operations of the hotline. However, Seoul outlined that it has communicated the need to maintain direct calls in cooperation with the ICAO, adding that such calls are “currently operating normally.” “Inter-Korean air control network direct calls shall be maintained to support safe air operations and to comply with inter-Korean agreements,” the ministry © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update & Podcast Updates Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by Trending

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North Korea informs UN agency of plan to cut air traffic communication with ROK

Seoul says ICAO was notified last year about plan to sever channel from 2025, but calls ‘currently operating normally’

Joon Ha Park | Shreyas Reddy February 13, 2025

North Korea informs UN agency of plan to cut air traffic communication with ROK

Air traffic control room at a South Korean airport | Image: Korea Office of Civil Aviation

North Korea notified a U.N. aviation organization last year that it plans to cut off an air traffic control communication channel with South Korea starting in 2025, Seoul’s unification ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry said Pyongyang informed the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of its intention to cease operations of the hotline.

However, Seoul outlined that it has communicated the need to maintain direct calls in cooperation with the ICAO, adding that such calls are “currently operating normally.”

“Inter-Korean air control network direct calls shall be maintained to support safe air operations and to comply with inter-Korean agreements,” the ministry

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Joon Ha Park

Joon Ha Park is a correspondent at Korea Risk Group. He has previously written on issues related to the two Koreas at The Peninsula Report, and appeared on ABC News Australia, Deutsche Welle and Monocle Radio. He specializes in offering in-depth analyses of South Korea’s defense policy, security relations and domestic politics for Korea Pro.

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Shreyas Reddy

Shreyas Reddy is the Lead Correspondent at NK News, based in Seoul. He previously worked as a researcher at BBC Monitoring, where his work focused on news and key people and organizations from the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Follow him on Twitter.

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