Russia and North Korea opened the first road bridge across their narrow stretch of border Monday, creating a new physical link between the two countries as they expand cooperation.
North Korea only shares a 17-kilometer (10.5-mile) border with Russia, a tiny part of its porous northern border that stretches more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) and is mostly shared with China. But Pyongyang and Moscow have hailed the bridge’s opening as yet another key moment in their booming ties.
Relations and exchange programs between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing, with North Korea supplying ammunition and troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance.
The bridge built over the Tumen River is 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) long and has two lanes, which will allow up to 300 vehicles a day to pass through a newly built border crossing point, the Russian government said in a statement. It was named after the late Soviet military officer Yakov Novichenko, who has been credited with protecting North Korean founder Kim Il Sung — the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un — from an assassination attempt in Pyongyang in 1946.
The bridge links North Korea’s Rason and Russia’s Khasan, border cities of the two countries. The bridge’s inauguration ceremony took place simultaneously in the two cities, with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song attending via video link.
