Russia and North Korea deepen relations with symbolic road bridge 

The first road bridge connecting Russia and North Korea has been opened, forging a symbolic link between the pair.

The first flag-adorned trucks made their way across the one-kilometre (0.6-mile) two-lane ⁠bridge spanning the Tumen River on Monday.

The two countries, which previously were only connected by air and rail routes, announced that the link marks an important milestone in their relations, which have grown considerably stronger since Russia launched its war on Ukraine.

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.

The Russian official said that up to 300 vehicles would be able to cross every day and that the bridge would be linked to Russia’s federal road network.

“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.

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.

Construction of the new bridge, which had been under discussion for years, began in April last year after being agreed during a visit by Russia’s 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.

The project sits close to the “Friendship Bridge” – a rail link that was commissioned in 1959 after the Korean War and for decades was the sole border crossing point.

Symbolically, the new bridge is named after Yakov Novichenko, a Red Army soldier who Pyongyang credits with protecting the life of North Korea’s first leader ‌Kim Il Sung in 1946 by intercepting a grenade thrown at him.

The opening of the link marks the deepening of relations between Moscow and Pyongyang, with cooperation having accelerated since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

That conflict has alienated Moscow from much of the Western world, a diplomatic status that North Korea has endured for years.

Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Russia’s ‌Kursk ‌region to help repel a 2024 Ukrainian incursion there.

Mishustin alluded to that in his speech on Monday, referring to “the Korean heroes who, only recently, fought shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers and defended Russian soil”.

The bridge is not merely an engineering project, but “a new symbol of friendship”, the Russian prime minister added, calling the opening of the link “a genuinely historic event”.

Pak Thae-song said that the bridge will further cement the two countries’ cooperation “which fulfils the hopes and aspirations of the peoples of both countries as they seek shared development and prosperity”, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.