DistantNews
Support us
🇰🇷 South Korea /Energy & Infrastructure

North Korea and Russia open road bridge across the Tumen River

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • North Korea and Russia opened a road bridge across the Tumen River on September 7, with both countries’ prime ministers attending the ceremony by video.
  • The bridge follows a 2024 agreement between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un and is named after Soviet officer Yakov Novichenko.
  • The roughly 5-kilometer route includes a two-lane bridge and a 10-lane border checkpoint designed to handle up to 300 vehicles and 2,300 people a day.

North Korea and Russia opened a new road bridge across the Tumen River on September 7, creating a road link where the border previously had a railway bridge but no automobile crossing.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song joined the completion ceremony by video and announced the start of traffic. The project followed an agreement reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their summit in Pyongyang in June 2024. Construction began in April last year.

Mishustin called the opening “a historic moment” and said relations between Russia and North Korea had reached an unprecedented level of comprehensive strategic partnership. He said the two countries were actively cooperating across almost all areas for regional security and stability.

A historic moment

· Mikhail MishustinThe Russian prime minister’s description of the bridge opening.

The Russian news agency TASS said the existing Friendship Bridge, a railway crossing over the Tumen River, could not meet transport demand. It said the new bridge would operate year-round, ease cross-border flows, help companies increase shipments, reduce transport costs, and support trade and economic cooperation.

The bridge is named after Yakov Novichenko, a Soviet officer credited with shielding Kim Il Sung from a grenade in 1946. At the opening, North Korean trucks decorated with flowers and national flags crossed toward Russia. On the Russian side, Novichenko’s grandson, Nikolai Servitsky, led a convoy into North Korea in his grandfather’s red Zaporozhets car. The full route, including connecting sections, is about 5 kilometers long, while the bridge itself is about 1 kilometer and has two lanes. The Khasan border checkpoint on the Russian side has 10 lanes and is expected to handle up to 300 vehicles and 2,300 people a day.

Russia and North Korea relations are currently at an unprecedented level of comprehensive strategic partnership. The two countries are actively cooperating and coordinating in almost all areas for regional security and stability.

· Mikhail MishustinRemarks at the bridge completion ceremony.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog