Editor’s note: What If? is an NK News series that provides readers with thoughtful, informed speculation about North Korea’s future. Articles in this series draw on verified facts and rigorous analysis to explore hypothetical scenarios in the years and decades ahead. 

The half-century-old North Korean passenger jet is cruising through clear skies en route to Vladivostok when something goes horribly wrong.

The Air Koryo Tu-154, a Russian aircraft designed in the 60s and acquired in the 70s, loses altitude rapidly as black smoke exudes from the doddering engine.

Rumors about a deadly crash in the mountains of the DPRK’s rural