North Korea, Russia open first road bridge in ‘new symbol of friendship’

North Korea and Russia opened their first road bridge on Monday in a carefully choreographed display of friendship, a structure which spans the Tumen river and which both sides cast as an important milestone ‌in their deepening strategic partnership.

The first flag-adorned trucks trundled across the 1 km (0.6-mile) long two-lane bridge as Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korea’s Premier Pak Thae Song tuned in by video link to address workers and government officials from both countries.

Construction of the new bridge, which had been under discussion for years, began in April last year after the project was agreed during a visit by President Vladimir Putin to North Korea in 2024.

There are already direct air ⁠and rail links between Moscow and Pyongyang, but until Monday there had not been a proper road link. Instead, since 1959 and by ‌special arrangement, planks had been placed on the nearby rail bridge – for decades the sole border crossing point – in order to move vehicles across the border between the two countries.

“I am convinced that the ‌expansion of cross-border transport infrastructure will provide a powerful impetus for the further development of trade, economic, scientific, technological ⁠and cultural cooperation,” said Mishustin, who ⁠said ties between Moscow and Pyongyang were “at an unprecedented high level” and called the opening of the bridge “a genuinely historic event”.

The construction of the bridge was not ‌merely an engineering project, he said, but “a new symbol of friendship”.

Mishustin said up to 300 vehicles would be able to cross every day and that the bridge would ‌be linked ‌to Russia’s federal road network and have easy access to the transport corridor which runs from the far eastern city of ‌Vladivostok to St Petersburg. Trucks would begin to use the bridge immediately to transport cargo, the Russian government said. At the end of this ⁠year, the bridge would be fully operational and could be used for passenger traffic too.