North Korea airline diversifies as threats mount of sanctions

Even after disembarking from North Korea's Air Koryo plane at Pyongyang airport, it's difficult to miss the airline's brand. The Air Koryo conglomerate makes cigarettes and fizzy drinks, besides owning a taxi fleet and petrol stations - and all have the same flying crane logo as the carrier. The military-controlled airline expanded into consumer products in earnest in recent months, visitors to the isolated country say. It was not clear if the diversification into the domestic market was related to the loss of many international routes when the United Nations slapped economic sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Washington is now considering tougher measures, including a global ban on Air Koryo itself, to punish North Korea for continuing weapons tests, US officials have said. But any US action on Air Koryo would not be binding on other nations and would have little effect unless joined by China and Russia - both of which have sought to introduce exceptions to United Nations sanctions on North Korea in the past. "China may indeed agree to this kind of ban on Air Koryo since it seems like China and the US have reached an agreement that North Korea needs to be dealt with in some way. But the question is whether Russia will agree to sanctions against Air Koryo," said Sun Xingjie, an associate professor at China's Jilin University.<br/>