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