Russia and North Korea Open New Bridge as Alliance Deepens

The first trucks have crossed a new one-kilometer bridge linking Russia and North Korea, a road connection the two countries are presenting as a sign of their increasingly close relationship.

The two-lane bridge runs over the Tumen River, which forms part of the border between the countries. It is expected to handle up to 300 vehicles a day, while passenger traffic is due to begin by the end of the year. Nearby stands the so-called Friendship Bridge, a railway link opened in 1959.

Construction began in April 2025, after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea in 2024. The new bridge bears the name of Yakov Novichenko, a Red Army soldier whom Pyongyang credits with saving the life of North Korea's first leader, Kim Il Sung, in 1946. Novichenko shielded Kim from a grenade thrown in his direction.

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Relations between Moscow and Pyongyang are at an unprecedentedly high level.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said by video link that relations between Moscow and Pyongyang had reached an unprecedentedly high level. He described the bridge not merely as an engineering project, but as “a new symbol of friendship.”

Relations have tightened since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, after Pyongyang sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to assist the Russian army. The opening of the bridge adds a new road link to that expanding cooperation.

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A new symbol of friendship.