It was originally designated as Dongfeng 101 and also as Type 56 before it was definitely named as J-5 in 1964.
It was built in China from 1956 until the 1960s when production ceased. It's believed that around 767 machines just of the regular version, the copy of the MiG-17F, were manufactured at Songling State-Owned Machinery Factory in the city of Shenyang, located in the province of Liaoning, in Manchuria. Initially, the Chinese obtained a license for the regular version of the MiG-17, which would retroactively be called Shenyang J-4 in the early 1950s. In order to introduce modern production methods to Chinese industry the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) obtained plans for the MiG-17F in 1955, along with two completed pattern aircraft, 15 knockdown kits and parts for ten aircraft. The first Shenyang J-5 flew for the first time on 19th July 1956 with test pilot Wu Keming as the pilot.
It was powered by a Wopen WP-5 engine (a copy of the Klimov VK-1) that yielded 25.5 kN (5700 lbf) of thrust and 33.8 kN (7600 lbf) with afterburner. It was armed with a single 37mm Type 37 cannon and two 23mm Type 23-1 cannons placed in the lower part of the nose, just like the regular MiG-17F.
It became the main PLAAF's fighter during the mid-to-late 1950s and even the first part of the 1960s and was also exported to many countries.
It served with the Cambodian Air Force, as ten F-5 were sent to the back then called Royal Khmer Aviation in 1965 as military aid. By 1970 only six of them were operational and those six remaining ones were lost on the ground in 1971 when the North Vietnamese Air Force conducted their "Sapper" attack.
It's also serving with the North Korean Air Force (NKAF). It's believed that at least 107 F-5s are still in active service with the NKAF. However, more than half of them are supposed to not be airworthy as they acquired back in the late 1960s and have been in active since then.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenyang_J-5
2. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/80747
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
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