Update (Oct. 8, 2024): The Il-28 bombers started to return to Uiju Airbase between Sept. 27 and 29 and the base now appears restored.

North Korea appears to have started restoring the runway at a defunct airbase near the border with China, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, more than three and a half years after turning it into a COVID-19 import disinfection and quarantine center.

The move is in line with leader Kim Jong Un’s recent promises to revive air force development after years of stagnation and may signal another reshuffle of Soviet-era bomber operations or possibly a new role for the airbase. 

Planet Labs imagery shows efforts to paint markings on the Uiju Airport runway started between Sept. 18 and 22. The base is located near the border city of Sinuiju in the northwest corner of the country.

It is possible that new structures or parking aprons will also be built at the base or that the runway could be extended, since the imagery shows activity along the side and to the north of the 2.5-km (1.55-mile) runway throughout September. 

NK Pro previously reported on the dismantlement of more than a dozen disinfection and quarantine-related structures along the runway in August, following multiple visits by Kim Jong Un amid major flooding in the surrounding area.

The same month, he also visited a large new construction site nearby that might be related to overall plans to restore the airport and move import processing to another location. However, the site was flooded and the project does not appear to have made progress as of the latest imagery taken on Sept. 22.

The disinfection facilities at the Uiju airbase as well as a new rail line and cargo stations along the runway and multiple layers of security fencing were first built in March 2021 after workers bulldozed some airport infrastructure.

Before that, the Uiju airbase was a mixed civilian and military-use airport that hosted Korean War-era Soviet Il-28 and Chinese​​ H-5 bombers. It occasionally received domestic passenger flights from national carrier Air Koryo.

Small airport control and terminal buildings were never demolished as part of the airbase’s conversion to the COVID-19 disinfection facility, and some aircraft revetments and storage areas also remained intact.

The airbase reportedly played an important role in a North Korean air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) program in the past, which may come into play again as the DPRK military continues to expand basing modes for new cruise missiles.

More than two dozen Il-28s and H-5s previously stationed at the Uiju Airport have been kept at the Sondok and Changjin airbases since 2021, but may move back to Uiju in the coming weeks or months depending on how extensive the restoration project is.

The Uiju project comes in addition to major ongoing projects to install new hangars at Panghyon Airbase, likely for North Korea’s new reconnaissance and combat drone program, and the complete rebuilding of Pukchang Airbase.

Sunchon Airbase was completely rebuilt from 2021 to 2023 as well, while Kim Jong Un signaled a shift in air force strategy by removing multiple small light aircraft bases in recent years to make way for large greenhouse farms.

One of North Korea’s three Il-76 cargo planes is also currently being converted into a likely airborne early warning (AEW) platform.

The DPRK leader visited air force headquarters last November, where he called for modernizing command systems and improving overall capabilities.

There has been speculation that North Korea seeks to acquire new jets from Russia for the first time in decades in exchange for rockets and ballistic missiles that Pyongyang is providing Moscow for use against Ukraine, but no aircraft transfers have been confirmed.

Edited by Alannah Hill