North Korea is demolishing structures at an air base about 30 miles from the South Korean border and has set up a construction worker camp there as part of a new project, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery.

Planet Labs imagery shows that the Soviet-era aircraft stationed at the air base, located in Rinsan County of North Hwanghae Province, disappeared in the last week of March. The site is often unofficially called Nuchon-ni air base.

Blue-roofed structures that are part of an apparent construction worker camp then appeared to the southwest of the runway between April 15 and 18.

Since then, images show that buildings have been demolished throughout the area while digging work started along an adjacent river.

The demolished buildings include air force base structures along the 2,500-meter runway and to the east, as well as a village of 20 houses that was built only three years ago. 

The base had appeared to be an active spot for Mil Mi-2 helicopter training and activities, hosting up to two dozen at any given time at the runway’s east-end parking apron. Only nine aging MiG-15 and five MiG-21 fighter jets have typically appeared at the west-end apron in high-resolution imagery in the last five years.

The purpose of the new construction project is not yet clear. 

One possibility is that it’s another air base renovation project, to improve the air force’s capabilities against nearby South Korea. 

This would follow major upgrades at Sunchon air base in 2023 and ongoing renovations at Pukchang air base.

New drone hangars and facilities are also being built at Panghyong air base, while North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has converted one of the country’s three Il-76 cargo planes into a prototype Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft. The aircraft, however, has appeared to remain mostly inactive at the Pyongyang International Airport.

There are major ongoing projects at Uiju air base and Samjiyon Airport as well.

Alternatively, it’s possible that the Rinsan air base will be completely removed and replaced with a new project. Recent examples include airfields in Kyongsong, Ryonpho and Kangdong that were cleared to make way for large-scale greenhouse farms, and an air base in Pyongyang that was replaced with a new party cadre school.

The Rinsan air base’s location in a remote valley far from major population centers, however, suggests it will not become another greenhouse farm.

Kim publicly acknowledged the obsolescence of his air force’s aging fleet in late 2022 and has since focused on developing uncrewed systems like reconnaissance and combat drones. 

He highlighted these and other new air force capabilities at a special exhibition last November.

The only known base hosting the new drones is Panghyon, but more could still be converted, like in Rinsan.

Kim also prompted speculation over possible plans to acquire new Russian fighter jets when he visited a factory in the Russian Far East producing modern Su-35 jets in 2023, but no such transfers have been confirmed. 

Edited by David Choi