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Some Korea-bound flights continued during nationwide U.S. departure halt

An early South Korean bulletin distinguishes international exceptions from the domestic shutdown and explains how crowded gates could spread the disruption overseas.

Channel: YTN ·

South KoreaStory of November 15, 2026Trari Newsroom

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미국 전역 항공기 '올 스톱' 사태...수백만 명 발 묶여 / YTN

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0:23Lee traces the departure restrictions from Chicago airports to a nationwide safety order.
0:56Some Asia-bound flights continue, while gate congestion threatens arrivals and European departures are suspended, the report says.
2:10Duffy attributes the shutdown to telecommunications failure; officials report no indication of malicious activity at that stage.
3:06The report describes a possible controller-pilot radio problem and says airborne aircraft received no immediate nationwide landing order.
3:52The closing explanation turns to aging air traffic control technology and modernization funding.

Some flights from the U.S. West Coast to South Korea and other Asian destinations were still operating during the nationwide departure halt, according to South Korea's YTN news channel. Its November 14 bulletin offers an important qualification to the idea that every aircraft had stopped moving.

Reporting from New York, correspondent Lee Seung-yoon says international services were being handled case by case. But he explains how the domestic shutdown could affect incoming flights too: aircraft unable to depart occupy gates, leaving less space for arrivals. The report says European aviation authorities suspended U.S.-bound departures at the FAA's request.

The bulletin, titled "미국 전역 항공기 '올 스톱' 사태...수백만 명 발 묶여 / YTN" (Flights across the US come to an "all stop", leaving millions stranded), traces the restrictions from Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports to a nationwide order on safety grounds. It describes passengers waiting aboard aircraft and inside terminals, with widespread cancellations expected through the weekend.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed the shutdown to a telecommunications failure affecting regional air traffic control centers, the report says. At that stage, officials said they had found no indication of terrorism or a cyberattack; the precise cause remained under investigation.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appears in the bulletin saying: "It's just a telecommunication outage as of right now."

Citing aviation publication The Air Current, Lee describes a possible problem with radio-frequency systems used for controller-pilot communications. He also distinguishes the departure restriction from an order to bring every airborne aircraft down: no immediate nationwide landing instruction had been issued.

The report closes with the aging technology behind U.S. air traffic control and the funding debate surrounding its modernization.