North Korea Restores Uiju Airbase

Key Findings

• Located in Sinuiju, North Pyongan, the Uiju Airbase is one of only two Ilyushin IL-28 airbases in North Korea. Previous CSIS satellite imagery reports showed the airbase converted into a rail freight transfer and quarantine facility during COVID-19 in 2021.  
• Subsequent images indicate that by January 2025, the airbase had returned to full operational status, with the entire complement of 34 Il-28/H-5 aircraft redeployed to the airbase. 
• The restoration of the Uiju Airbase signifies a shift in North Korea’s priorities for the facility, moving away from COVID-19-related activities and back toward military training and readiness operations within the broader national defense strategy. 

Background

In 2021, a week before the adoption of the “Law on Disinfection of Imports” as a response to COVID-19, North Korea initiated a construction effort at the Uiju Airbase to convert it into a rail freight transfer and quarantine facility to handle critically needed imports from China.¹

One of the first steps was the transfer of the aircraft and crews of what is believed to be the 24^th Air Regiment equipped with Il-28/H-5 light bombers based in Uiju to the Changjin-up and Sondok Airbases between February 26 and 27, 2021.²

After the transfer of the aircraft, the airbase was converted into a rail freight transfer and quarantine facility. The construction included a new industrial railroad spur line that ran through the center of five large IL-28 revetments at the airbase. In addition, five railroad loading/unloading platforms with lights were added, along with eight large warehouses and large graded areas for open-air cargo storage. A second industrial railroad spur line was built from the rail mainline running along the facility’s north side directly to the airbase’s underground facility southeast of the former runway. There is no evidence that the original airbase’s headquarters, housing, storage, or maintenance facilities were impacted by the establishment of the rail freight transfer and quarantine facility. 

The facility handled varying quantities of critically needed imports from China for the next three years. These imports crossed the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge at Sinuiju and then traveled a short distance to the newly established Uiju rail freight transfer and quarantine facility. Once the cargo was verified, sorted, disinfected, and fumigated, it was forwarded to other locations throughout North Korea.³

Airbase Restoration

North Korea remained largely self-isolated due to COVID until mid-2023, when it resumed normal rail trade with China and Russia. With the end of COVID and a dramatic increase in trade with China between 2023 and 2024, the need for the Uiju rail freight transfer and quarantine facility rapidly diminished. Concurrently, heavy flooding in the Sinuiju area in late July 2024 submerged parts of the rail lines connecting Sinuiju to the facility, necessitating significant repairs. 

Subsequently, the decision was made to raze the facility and restore the airbase. One of the earliest indications of the restoration appeared in satellite imagery collected on August 18, 2024, which showed that most of the openly stored freight had been removed from the facility.  

By September 8, 2024, most warehouse buildings and the industrial rail spur line were removed. Satellite imagery collected two weeks later, on September 26, showed that the runway had been cleared of debris and markings had once again been painted on the runway. Eight days later, on October 4, 2024, what are believed to be the first Il-28/H-5 light bombers were observed back at the airbase, with five positioned on the southeast parking apron.  

By January 8, 2025, the air regiment’s entire complement of 34 Il-28/H-5 aircraft was observed on the base’s various taxiways and parking aprons, demonstrating the airbase’s restoration to operational status.⁴

A more recent satellite image collected on March 16, 2025, shows the condition of the restored airbase, with the former freight transfer and quarantine facility and its associated buildings and industrial rail spur lines razed and 25 Il-28/H-5 light bombers dispersed around the base.⁵ The maintenance and storage revetments, as well as the headquarters, maintenance, and housing area, did not show any notable changes, with likely derelict MiG-21 fighters and Il-28/H-5 light bombers in revetments, as they have been since before the pandemic. 

The restoration of the Uiju Airbase signifies a shift in North Korea’s priorities for the facility, moving away from COVID-19-related activities and back toward military training and readiness operations within the broader national defense strategy.