Pyongyang Air Base also known as Heijo Airfield or Pyongyang (K-23) Air Base was a former
Imperial Japanese Army Air Service
The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ) was the Military aviation, aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground ...
,
Korean People's Air Force (KPAF) and
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
(USAF) air base adjacent to the
Taedong River
The Taedong River () is a large river in North Korea. The river rises in the Rangrim Mountains of the country's north where it then flows southwest into Korea Bay at Namp'o.Suh, Dae-Sook (1987) "North Korea in 1986: Strengthening the Soviet ...
in
Pyongyang
Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...
,
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
. It was redeveloped after the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
as a Government and residential area.
History
The air base was originally developed during the
Japanese Imperial period. The base was home to a
Showa aircraft plant and the
6th Air Regiment and the
Imperial Japanese Army
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
's Heijo Arsenal with
Nambu, which manufactured hand and long
infantry
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
weapons.
Korean War
The Showa aircraft factory and air section of the arsenal were believed to be the center of North Korea's aircraft maintenance and supply system.
On the afternoon of 29 June 1950, 18
B-26s of the
3rd Bombardment Group attacked Pyongyang Air Base. Arriving at dusk they bombed the hangar line, ramps and revetments, destroying an estimated 25 aircraft on the ground. Only one KPAF
Yak-3 fighter got airborne to oppose the attack and it was shot down by a B-26 gunner.
[
From 3–4 July 1950 aircraft from Task Force 77 attacked Pyongyang and Pyongyang East airfields and Onjong-Ni Airfield shooting down two Yak-3s and damaging a further 10 aircraft on the ground. On 18 July 1950 aircraft from Task Force 77 attacked the Pyongyang airfields again destroying 14 aircraft and damaging 13.][
Following the capture of Pyongyang on 19 October 1950 the air base was put into service by the UN forces. The USAF designated the base K-23.][
The US Army's D Battery 865th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion provided anti-aircraft defense for the base.][
UN forces abandoned the base on 5 December 1950 as part of the evacuation of Pyongyang in the face of the Chinese intervention.][ On 10 December 1950 B-29s bombed the airfield with high-explosive bombs.][
On 23 January 1951, 46 F-80s of the 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing attacked anti-aircraft positions around Pyongyang and once this was completed 21 B-29s of the 19th and 307th Bombardment Groups from Okinawa bombed the airfield.][
]
Postwar
The area was redeveloped in the late 1950s as a Government and residential area.
See also
* Pyongyang East Air Base (K-24)
* Pyongyang Sunan International Airport
* Yonpo Airfield
References
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Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force
Korean War air bases
Military installations of North Korea
Military installations of Japan in Korea
1940s establishments in Korea
1950s disestablishments in North Korea