Sun, Sep 25, 2016 page15

• North Korean air show thumbs nose at sanctions

  Aviation enthusiasts from 20 countries were treated to warplanes flying low over the spectators — a practice banned in all other air shows around the world

  • By Giles Hewitt / AFP, WONSAN, North Korea
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  Just weeks after carrying out its fifth nuclear test, North Korea yesterday put on an unprecedented civilian and military air force display at the country’s first-ever public aviation show.

  The two-day Wonsan International Friendship Air Festival was held at the newly refurbished Kalma Airport — previously a military airfield — completed last year to boost tourism in the area around the eastern port city of Wonsan.

  The festival was already scheduled before North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9, triggering international outrage and threats of still further sanctions against the deeply isolated nuclear-armed country.

  

  A soldier watches Hughes MD-500 helicopters performing a fly-by during the first Wonsan Friendship Air Festival in Wonsan, North Korea, yesterday.

  Photo: AFP

  The show started with an aerial display by a US Hughes MD-500 military helicopter — one of a number acquired in the 1980s by using a third country to circumvent US export restrictions.

  North Korea’s aviation industry was targeted by provisions in the UN Security Council resolution passed after its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6.

  The provisions prevent member states selling or supplying North Korea with aviation fuel, aviation gasoline or naptha-type jet fuel or kerosene type jet fuel.

  

  A Sukhoi SU-25 aircraft performs a fly-by during the first Wonsan Friendship Air Festival in North Korea yesterday.

  Photo: AFP

  However, a recent report by the Nautilus Institute for Security said that domestic supply of jet fuel was probably adequate to keep air force aircraft flying, especially given their very low annual exercise rate.

  The Hughes helicopter was followed by an extended solo acrobatic display by the most advanced aircraft in the North Korean air force — an early-model Soviet-built Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum which made several ear-splitting low passes over the crowd.

  The rest of the air force fleet is largely comprised of antiquated Chinese built copies of the MiG-17, MiG-19 and MiG-21.

  Experts say the low number of flying hours and training their pilots receive compounds the air force’s technical deficit compared with neighboring South Korea.

  North Korean airports are generally high-security areas, but the Kalma tarmac and surrounding airfield were opened for the festival to several thousand local spectators, foreign media and several hundred slightly over-excited aviation enthusiasts from 20 countries.

  Several foreign observers said that the low passes by the MiG29 and later by a Sukhoi-25 fighter would have been forbidden at other international air festivals.

  “You would never see that anywhere else in the world. Regulations prevent any passes or maneuvers over the crowd line,” said Peter Terlouw, a Dutch aviation photographer.

  “But for us, it’s brilliant!”

  As well as the promised military aircraft displays, a major draw was the presence of national carrier Air Koryo’s vintage planes, which operate on some domestic routes.

  “To get this close to such old planes in a country like North Korea is very special,” said Ashley Walker, 39, a British pilot based in Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific.

  “You won’t find working planes like these anywhere in the world,” he said, gesturing to a twin turbo-prop Antonov AN-24 sitting on the tarmac.

  Walker was one of 200 enthusiasts brought to the show by British-based Juche Tours, with the promise of brief flights on some of the civilian planes, which also included an Ilyushin-18 and Tupolev-134.

  “It’s obviously the fact that it’s in North Korea that makes it so special,” said Canadian enthusiast King Hui, 63.

  Wonsan — a traditional recreation area — is the focus of a major tourism development plan in tandem with the nearby Mount Kumgang district.

  Just 25km from Wonsan lies one of leader Kim Jong-Un’s pet projects — the Masik Ski resort completed in 2013.

  Mount Kumgang was originally developed as a resort for South Korean visitors, but Seoul halted all trips after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier when she strayed off the approved path.
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