ISTANBUL

North Korea resumed international flights on Tuesday, with a passenger plane landing in Beijing for the first time since the country closed its border after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020. 

International flights resumed following approval by China's Foreign Ministry on Monday for Air Koryo to operate between Pyongyang and Beijing.

The tourism organization Koryo Tours said recently that “North Korea will open its borders for citizens stranded abroad since the pandemic to return to the country,” NK News reported.

The reopening of the borders for flights serves a larger purpose, the media outlet said, citing experts. It added that North Korea may intend to send workers to Russia as a result of a "labor shortage" caused by the war in Ukraine.

Last year, North Korea reached agreements with Russian-controlled Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, to send workers to repair infrastructure after Pyongyang eased border controls.