The third Russian aircraft to reach North Korea’s east coast in a month follows tourist security talks
A Russian military aircraft landed at North Korea’s resort town of Wonsan on Monday, aviation data and satellite imagery showed, marking Russia’s third jet reaching the DPRK’s east coast in a month.
An Ilyushin Il-62M (RA-86559) under the Russian Aerospace Forces triggered a Flightradar24 alert from near Wonsan after a flight from Chkalovsky military airbase near Moscow via Vladivostok on Monday.
This jet is no stranger to North Korea after making at least four flights to Pyongyang in April, presumably for matters related to the DPRK’s opening of a new memorial for soldiers who fought in Kursk.
Planet Labs low-resolution satellite imagery confirmed the presence of an aircraft consistent to the proportions of the Il-62M at Wonsan Kalma’s airport next to the mega resort.
The purpose of the flight is unclear, although it comes amid Moscow’s growing interest in the area following Russians becoming the first tourists allowed at Wonsan Kalma and the country’s participation in the construction of a new modern hospital by the tourist zone last month.
Russian health and natural resources ministers Mikhail Murashko and Alexander Kozlov traveled to Wonsan from Moscow aboard a Nordwind Airlines’s Airbus A330-243 (RA-73270) on April 23. The officials kicked off construction of the DPRK-Russia Friendship Hospital in the Wonsan Kalma tourist zone.
Similarly, Russian police chief Vladimir Kolokoltsev turned up at Wonsan aboard Russia’s Special Flight Squadron Tu-214SR (RA-64526) after visiting Pyongyang on April 20. Kolokoltsev offered to share Russian security practices used at tourist sites with local authorities.
One of the initiatives is an AI facial recognition system currently used in Russia’s southern city of Sochi. One expert previously assessed that such a technology in Wonsan will likely be used for surveillance of tourists and restraining their contacts with local North Koreans.
Additionally, Wonsan could become a testing ground for the AI system before its application in other DPRK cities, according to the expert.
Edited by Alannah Hill
