By Na Jeong-ju

A plane that crashed in northeastern China this week was a military aircraft from North Korea, China’s state media reported Thursday.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said that investigators have found that the plane crash in Liaoning province’s Fushun county was caused by a mechanical failure, citing unidentified government sources.

The report was short and brief with no mention of whether there was an intent of defection. South Korean intelligence officials were trying to determine the exact cause of Tuesday’s crash of a North Korean military aircraft in northeastern China, with some sources cautiously suggesting that it could indicate unrest within the North Korean military over economic difficulties.

The plane crashed into a cornfield in the Fushun Prefecture in the province of Liaoning about 150 kilometers from the border. The Chinese government said the pilot was killed in the crash, without releasing further information.

Many analysts suspect the flight was a failed defection attempt, as China and North Korea are reported to be working swiftly to close the matter.

“Pilots are privileged jobs in North Korea,” an intelligence source said. “If it was a defection attempt, one of the theories is that he wanted to flee his country due to hunger as the military has reduced food rations.”

Reports say it has become even harder for the impoverished nation to feed its people since its currency reform failed. Observers also say that it isn’t just ordinary people who are becoming poorer and struggling to feed themselves.

“Social unrest is becoming rampant in North Korea,” the Chosun Ilbo reported Thursday, citing North Korean and Chinese sources. “An increasing number of North Koreans are openly criticizing their government and leader Kim Jong-il.”

Defections have increased this year amid food shortages in isolated North Korea, with most people escaping by foot across the border into China.

In two separate cases, in 1983 and 1996, North Korean air force captains flew their planes across the demilitarized zone into South Korea. Sources said that the aircraft was believed to have lost direction while flying to Russia after escaping North Korea. China has a repatriation pact with North Korea, which may have led the pilot to choose Russia as his destination.