NORTH KOREA: Charter Flight Opened Between Pyongyang And Dandong

A charter flight opened between Pyongyang and Dandong, a Chinese city near the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday, shortening the trip to 40 minutes.

About 50 passengers, mostly Chinese tourists and businessmen, attended the launch ceremony at the Pyongyang Sunan International Airport.

Air Koryo, a DPRK airline, will operate the twice weekly flights, taking off from Pyongyang at 9:00am local time and returning to the DRPK capital city at 11:40am.

Air Koryo has regular flights to Beijing and Shenyang, which is also in Northeast China.

The charter flight to Dandong is its third route to China.

Facing Sinuiju of DPRK across the Yalu River, Dandong in Liaoning province of Northeast China has become a transport hub connecting the two countries.

NORTH KOREA: Is North Korea Becoming A Holiday Hotspot?

Kim Jong-un has built a visitor centre to cash in on tourists coming to notoriously reclusive North Korea.

The country will now bring in coach loads of £83-a-time day-trippers.

Kim, 33, built the £7 million centre where tourists booking a trip to North Korea are treated to traditional dancing, displays of art and local food.

A strict list of ridiculous 'don'ts' is handed to the mainly Chinese visitors travelling over the border from Dandong to Sinuiju.

They are told not drop fag ends, litter or spit in the street, make any derogatory comments about Kim's regime and have been warned not to mount any spontaneous visits into the homes of locals.

Visitors are banned from taking pictures of "poor people" and must not be rude to officials.

They must not bring any newspapers carrying information about the outside world, laptops, memory sticks or mobile phones.

Tourists are also forbidden from being alcohol or binoculars during their day out in North Korea.

Chinese make up the majority of the 100,000 tourists who visit the country each year but they arrive on specially organised tours.

Kim is now desperate to bring in extra revenue, so much so that minimal border checks are enforced.

The Kim is currently under scrutiny from the rest of the world after he launched a satellite into space - prompting fears he was close to developing a powerful ballistic missile system.

Last month North Korea carried out hydrogen bomb tests.