The World - News from Nov. 18, 1988

Apparently under pressure from North Korea, China has canceled a temporary agreement allowing South Korean jetliners to fly through Chinese airspace and has refused to reopen talks on the subject, a South Korean airline executive said. The agreement, for the Seoul Olympics, had been seen as a sign of warming between Seoul and Beijing, which do not have diplomatic relations but have been expanding unofficial trade ties. Peter Hyun, an adviser to the president of Korean Air, said the scrapping of the agreement has stalled negotiations aimed at eventually opening air routes between South Korea and China. Nevertheless, he predicted that the two will open trade offices in each other’s country “very soon.”