I believe Bill Clinton went over and got them back, at least the journalists.
I’m following my son’s flight to China on Flightaware and just noticed the flight plan takes an abrubt jog which I though was odd because it adds extra miles, then I realized it was to avoid flying over North Korea! Never thought about it before but I’m glad he isn’t flying over that country!
@3scoutsmom - I don’t know if it’s still the case, but in the heyday of the Cold War, etc. every time I’d fly to South America or the Caribbean, the U.S. airlines’ flight routes were way longer in order to avoid flying over Cuba. Until the first time I took an Avianca flight, I hadn’t realized the difference in routing.
North Korea almost hit a passenger plane in 2014 with a missile launch. The missile and the plane were in the same space less than 10 minutes apart (if I am remembering correctly).
Obviously, normal countries coordinate and deconflict airspace when they are going to test a missile. North Korea, on the other hand, just does whatever it wants with complete disregard for anyone.