Russia and North Korea open their first road bridge across the shared border

Russia and North Korea have opened a one-kilometre road bridge across the Tumen River, giving the two allies their first direct road connection. Flag-decorated trucks were the first vehicles to cross the two-lane bridge.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korean Prime Minister Pak Thae Song joined the inauguration by video link and addressed workers and officials from both countries. The bridge bears the name of Soviet officer Yakov Novichenko, who is credited with saving North Korean founder Kim Il Sung from an assassination attempt by a pro-South Korean group.

The countries agreed to build the bridge during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea in 2024. Construction began in April last year. Until now, Moscow and Pyongyang had direct air and rail links but no standard road crossing. Since 1959, vehicles had used planks placed on a nearby railway bridge under a special arrangement, Reuters reported.

The new crossing comes as relations between the two countries deepen. They signed a defence pact in 2024, and North Korea has backed Russia’s war in Ukraine with missiles, ammunition and thousands of troops. Mishustin referred in his speech to “the Korean heroes who recently fought shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers and defended Russian soil.”

Analysts say Russia has responded with economic support, military technology, food and energy for North Korea, which remains diplomatically isolated. The Ukrainian human rights organisation Truth Hounds described the bridge as a possible corridor for transporting North Korean soldiers and military personnel to Russia, while Russian technology and resources could move in the opposite direction with fewer risks.

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the Korean heroes who recently fought shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers and defended Russian soil