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Kalma International Airport in Wonsan

South and North Korea’s agreement to use the Masikryong Ski Resort is prompting expectations that a new aerial route may open to the Kalma International Airport in Wonsan, near the resort. During vice minister-level talks on Jan. 17, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed that their skiers would train together at the Masikryong Ski Resort prior to the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Toward this end, Seoul will be sending an advance party to the resort from Jan. 23 to 25 to review the facilities.

The area around Kalma International Airport

“We are thinking of reviewing the facilities at the Masikryong Ski Resort and also visiting the Kalma International Airport in Wonsan. We expressed our interest in visiting [the airport] to leave open the possibility of our athletes using the airport to reach the joint training, and the North agreed,” said South Korean Unification Vice Minister Chun Hae-sung during a press briefing on Jan. 17.

Kalma International Airport is located in Wonsan, a city in the part of Gangwon Province controlled by North Korea. It is possible to travel to the Masikryong Ski Resort by land on the East Sea Line, but the resort is more than 170 km away from the inter-Korean transit office. When the distance from Seoul to the inter-Korean transit office is taken into account, that would be a journey of three or four hours by car. Considering that Kalma International Airport is just over 50 km from the ski resort, it would be much easier to travel by air.

Newly constructed terminal of Kalma International Airport in Wonsan

Since visiting the North via the Kalma International Airport would violate neither the UN Security Council’s sanctions against the North nor the South Korean government’s independent sanctions, it’s unlikely to be controversial. Seoul’s sanctions forbid North Korean vessels from operating in South Korean waters and block foreign vessels from entering a South Korean port within 180 days of calling at a North Korean port, but they do not restrict South Korean planes from making a stop in the North.

By Noh Ji-won and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporters

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