Sinuiju can be reached from P'yongyang by air, having a 1.2 km runway, or electric railway and road.
Antung Airfield was a major base for People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and Korean People's Air Force (KPAF) fighters during the Korean War used in the defense of the supply lines across the Yalu River to the North Korean city of Sinuiju and for engaging attacking USAF aircraft in the area that became known as MiG Alley.
The North and South Korean governments had agreed on an inter-Korean rail line to run from Seoul to Pyongyang and then on to Sinuiju, a border city in the north on the Yalu River, as well as a road running parallel to the railway.
The primary rail gateway to North Korea is via the Sino-Korea Friendship Bridge from Dandong, China to Sinuiju, North Korea.
In late April 1951 reconnaissance showed that the KPAF had based 38 Yak-9s, Il-10s and La-5s in revetments at Sinuiju.
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On 23 January 1951, 33 F-84s of the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing attacked Sinuiju airfield, provoking a response from the MiG-15s based across the Chinese border at Antung airfield, with 4 MiG-15s shot down in the ensuing dogfights.