The first road bridge linking Russia and North Korea has opened, allowing the two countries to more easily move cargo and passengers between their border across the Tumen river. Pyongyang state media said the bridge will be used for “personnel exchanges, tourism and trade”.
But Ukrainian investigative organisation Truth Hounds said the bridge is intended “primarily to establish a covert military logistics corridor” to support Russia in the Ukraine war.
It comes amid stronger ties between the countries since the start of the Ukraine war, with Russia’s Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un previously pledging that they would help each other in the event of “aggression” against either country.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin described the bridge as a “new symbol of friendship”, while North Korea’s Prime Minister Pak Thae Song said it was a “historical event”.
Up to 300 vehicles and 2,323 people can cross the bridge daily, Russian state news TASS reports.
Satellite imagery reported by the BBC in May this year showed the kilometre-long bridge alongside several new access roads, a border checkpoint, support infrastructure and parking facilities.
There are existing air links, as well as the rail link between the two countries, but until now the only road link was a makeshift solution where, by special arrangement, wooden planks were placed on the rail bridge to allow cars to travel over it, according to Reuters.
The Russian government said the bridge will initially be used to transport cargo, Reuters reported, before opening to passenger traffic later this year.
The bridge would provide, a “powerful impetus for the further development of trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation,” said Mishustin.
Appearing at the opening ceremony via video link, he described ties between Moscow and Pyongyang as being “at an unprecedented high level.”
The most immediate impact may be increased export of weapons to Russia.
Researchers at South Korea’s spy agency estimates that North Korea has already transferred $7 to 14 billion dollars’ worth of rockets, missiles, artillery shells using ships. An estimated 11,000 North Korean troops are actively fighting Ukrainians in Russia.
Truth Hounds said in a recent statement that given the strategic partnership treaty between the two countries in 2024 – the bridge could be used to transport North Korean military personnel, construction workers and senior military officials directly to Russia.
It would also enable the flow of Russian technology and resources in the opposite direction”.
Construction started in 2025, after the agreement to build the bridge was made during Putin’s 2024 visit to North Korea, his first trip to the state in 24 years, which resulted in the partnership treaty. The bridge took 495 days to complete, after delays.
Russian tourists have trickled into North Korea since they were allowed in in 2024. North Korea has been hosting them in capital Pyongyang and the beach resorts of Wonsan-Kalma, while continuing to block those from other countries.
The road is also expected to transport North Korean labourers to Russia.
Around 10,000 North Koreans are working in Russia’s construction sites and logging camps, according to a South Korean estimate. Although the UN bans countries from using North Korean labour, many enter Russia under the guise of student visas.
“The speed of construction is a reflection of the volume of trade activity between the two sides,” Victor Cha from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank, told BBC Verify in May this year.
“This is spurred largely by North Korea’s provision of troops, weapons, munitions, and labourers for Putin’s war in Ukraine,” he said.
“It is fair to say that this connection, prior to the war in Ukraine, was one of the sleepiest links between North Korea and its two neighbours.”
By BBC News
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