Originally Posted by
angetenar
PEK is far north enough that no PEK-US great circle will go through North Korea. PVG-ORD/ATL and CAN/HKG-DFW/IAH great circle crosses North Korea. At any rate, this is a moot point because all the China/HKG-US flights I currently see in the air are avoiding Russian air space which makes North Korean airspace useless.
On east bound flights, tail winds play a major role in route planning. As such, transpacs ex-PEK often trod along the (south side of the) NK/SK border before making a slight left to set up for one of the main oceanic paths.
ETA: SHE-NRT is one of the few routes I could think of that would definitely benefit from flying over North Korea, but it appears to do a pretty good job of avoiding it.
