Model F-16 Wows Crowd at North Korea's First Air Show

Officials aren't saying where they got it
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 26, 2016 12:16 AM CDT
Model F-16 Wows Crowd at North Korea's First Air Show
North Koreans watch as military parachutists descend upon Kalma Airport on Sunday in Wonsan, North Korea.   (Wong Maye-E)

Now here's something you don't see every day: an F-16 fighter jet buzzing through the skies of North Korea and launching fireworks. The plane roaring over people's heads at the country's first air show Sunday was actually a remote-controlled mock-up of the fabled US Air Force fighter, the AP reports. The choice of flying a one-sixth scale model F-16 at the Wonsan International Friendship Air Festival was an odd one considering the outrage North Korea regularly expresses over the presence of US troops and Air Force bases in South Korea. Officials refused to comment on the origin of the model F-16.

The model fighter did, however, appear to please the crowd watching the air displays Sunday at Wonsan's newly renovated Kalma Airport. Thousands of North Koreans and hundreds of foreign tourists and journalists invited to the event were also given a rare glimpse of North Korea's own air force fighters, including a MiG-29 and Su-25 ground attack fighter, acquired from Russia. The air show's first day opened Saturday with an aerobatic display by US-made Hughes MD 500 military-use helicopters, which has raised questions of whether international sanctions against North Korea had been violated. (Last week, all 28 sites on North Korea's Internet were leaked.)

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