Behind-the-scenes in DPRK: Airport, in-flight newspapers and stewardesses

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About 30 reporters from China, Russia, the US, the UK and the Republic of Korea (ROK) returned from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to Beijing on Saturday noon, after covering the DPRK’s explosions of nuclear tunnels at the Punggye-ri testing ground.

The foreign reporters boarded a chartered flight at around 11:00 p.m. local time at the DPRK’s newly built Wonsan Kalma International Airport.

The information desk at DPRK's Wonsan Kalma International Airport /CGTN Photo

The airport was previously a military facility, but since 2015, it has been expanded and now takes both military and civil flights.

There were no other passengers at the airport except the invited reporters on Saturday. But in the international waiting hall, there is a small duty-free shop selling local and international products including food, wines, and cosmetics. There is also a stylish coffee shop, a smoking room, and a wide seating area with commercial advertisements on its walls and pillars.

A coffee shop at DPRK's Wonsan Kalma International Airport /CGTN Photo

There are also TV screens playing the performances of DPRK’s military bands, as well as videos of local people enjoying their leisure time at a modern swimming pool and a ski resort.

A TV screen in the plane /CGTN Photo

Despite the repeated warnings from the DPRK officials not to shoot in public areas, security and staff at the airport seemed willing to let reporters film and take photos, except at the security check and border inspection.

Goods at a small duty-free shop at DPRK's Wonsan Kalma International Airport /CGTN Photo

The reporters returned to Beijing on the same chartered plane with three flight attendants, who were fluently speaking Chinese, Korean and English.

A flight attendant /CGTN Photo

On the returning flight, each reporter received a copy of local newspaper the Pyongyang Time's May 19 edition with a front-page photo of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

/CGTN Photo

The second piece of news on the paper was about the country’s relations with the US. In the report, the DPRK’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan urged the US to roll back its anti-DPRK policy, following the US-ROK war games. In the news, the vice foreign minister also threatened to “reconsider our approach to the upcoming summit talks” with US President Donald Trump.

The foreign reporters stayed in the DPRK for five days. On Thursday, they were taken to the Punggye-ri nuclear test site to cover the DPRK’s high-profile explosions of the nuclear tunnels, which were designed to carry out underground nuclear tests.

/CGTN Photo

The DPRK military officials announced that all its three remaining tunnels at Punggye-ri had been “completely dismantled” by 4:20 p.m. local time on Thursday. The explosions of the tunnels took place in front of the cameras of foreign reporters.