North Korea scraps Wonsan Air Show as sanctions tighten

The first-ever Wonsan International Friendship Air Festival was held in September last year

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Spectators watch helicopters perform a fly-by during the 2016 first Wonsan Friendship Air Festival in Wonsan. File photo: AFP

Published: 5:45pm, 28 Aug 2017Updated: 5:52pm, 28 Aug 2017

North Korea has cancelled this year’s Wonsan Air Show, travel agents said Monday, with reports suggesting tightened travel restrictions by several countries due to nuclear tensions with Pyongyang could be behind the move.

The first-ever Wonsan International Friendship Air Festival was held in September last year, attracting hundreds of foreigners as the isolated North showcased a line-up of civilian and military aircraft.

The event had been planned to take place every two years, but North Korea said in March the first was so successful that it was bringing forward the second edition.

But the gathering, scheduled for late September, was cancelled by the North Korean Preparatory Committee due to “current geopolitical circumstances”, specialist website NK News reported, citing an email from the organisers.

North Korean female MiG-21 fighter pilots. File photo: AP

It did not give specific reasons but cited “uncertainty” and “recently upgraded travel warnings” regarding trips to the North, the report said.

A US travel ban issued following the June death of US student Otto Warmbier, who was released in a coma after being held by Pyongyang for more than a year, will come into effect on Friday.