(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) More than ten years after its construction, the new Yalu River Bridge connecting North Korea and China is finally expected to be opened to traffic in early October. It has also been noted that Pyongyang is also strengthening transport links with Russia.
According to South Korean media reports, the new bridge connecting Dandong, a city in northeastern China, and Sinuiju, a trade hub in northwestern North Korea, is officially called the "China-North Korea Yalu River Boundary Highway Bridge" and is expected to be officially opened to traffic on October 6, which coincides with the 77th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between North Korea and China.
An analysis released by the think tank "38 Degrees North" concluded that on the North Korean side of New Bridge, significant progress has been made in the scale of infrastructure construction of customs, immigration and warehousing facilities. Previously, the construction sites of these facilities had been stagnant for a long time.
This new Yalu River Bridge with a cable-stayed structure is located about 15 kilometers downstream of the old bridge, close to the entrance to the Yellow Sea. The new bridge is a four-lane highway bridge with a total length of more than 3,000 meters across the river and is equipped with an approach road network connecting surrounding areas.
The purpose of building this bridge is to relieve the traffic pressure on the old "China-North Korea Friendship Bridge". The old bridge carries both road and rail transportation and remains an important channel between North Korea and its largest trading partner, China.
Strengthen ties with Russia and China
Prior to the opening of this new bridge, another road bridge across the Tumen River was opened to traffic on September 7, connecting the Rason region of North Korea and the Khasan region of Russia. Prior to this, the narrow land border between North Korea and Russia was connected only by railway.
Han Ki-beom, former deputy director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, told DW, "North Korea has let the bridge connecting China idle for more than a decade, but North Korea is more eager than Russia to advance the other bridge."
He believes that this difference reveals Pyongyang's strategic intentions. North Korea seems to be deliberately improving the pace of relations with Russia and China to avoid repeating the mistake of over-reliance on Beijing. "North Korea's independence will be weakened if it relies too much on China as it did in the past," Han Ki-beom said, adding that Pyongyang is trying to take advantage of its good relations with China and Russia while maintaining its independence.
The former South Korean Unification Ministry official also pointed out that Russia intends to expand transportation routes to the Pacific via North Korea. At the same time, North Korea can also use this to promote trade growth, develop tourism, and facilitate the dispatch of workers to Russia. Russia needs North Korean labor, and North Korean workers are considered more diligent than Russian workers.
The former South Korean official said China also hopes that North Korea will not become overly dependent on Russia. "From China's perspective, it needs to prevent North Korea from moving too close to Russia."
Relations between Moscow and Pyongyang have grown increasingly close since North Korea began providing weapons and troops for the war in Ukraine in 2023. As strategic relations between Russia and North Korea deepen, China is also taking measures to reaffirm its status as North Korea's main partner.
Ahn Chan-il, a former North Korean soldier and current director of the World Center for North Korea Studies in Seoul, said the bridge has additional geopolitical significance.
"Pyongyang can take advantage of its deepening relations with China and Russia, coupled with Trump's willingness to engage with Kim Jong-un, to increase its diplomatic leverage and take a tougher stance against South Korea," Ahn Chan told DW.
North Korea slowly reopens
During the coronavirus pandemic, Pyongyang has effectively closed its borders, slashed trade and even restricted the entry of foreign diplomats.
Cross-border freight trains between Dandong and Sinuiju will not resume operations until 2022. Passenger trains resumed operation on March 12 this year. This is the first time in six years that North Korea and China have resumed railway passenger transportation.
An Canyi described the bridge that is about to be opened to traffic as having historical significance.
He said, "The new Yalu River Bridge is actually the first modern bridge between North Korea and China." The plan to build a new bridge can be traced back to 2009, when then-Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao reached a bridge-building agreement with North Korean high-level officials, hoping to alleviate traffic pressure on the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge built in 1943.
The construction of the new bridge started in 2011 and was mainly funded by China. The main project was basically completed in 2014. However, the opening of the bridge to traffic has been affected due to delays in the construction of customs facilities on the North Korean side.
Ahn Can-il said that the opening of the new bridge can be seen as a signal from Pyongyang to further open up the economy, although the process is progressing slowly.
New bridge will boost trade between China and North Korea
A former senior official at South Korea's Ministry of Unification told DW on condition of anonymity that restarting trade would also benefit China's Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces.
Before the sanctions against North Korea and the COVID-19 epidemic, China mainly imported seafood and other agricultural and sideline products from North Korea, and China's industrial products also flowed to North Korea.
“Both sides want something from the other,” the former official said. North Korea needs Chinese goods and opportunities to earn foreign exchange, and China's northeastern region can also benefit from cross-border trade, he said.
However, the official said the long delays reflected Pyongyang's previous reluctance to build customs, logistics and other necessary infrastructure within its borders. "The fact that it is about to be opened to traffic now means that North Korea has built customs, customs clearance facilities and logistics warehouses. From this perspective, North Korea's needs are more urgent. It now needs to ship goods from China."
Han Ki-beom, former deputy director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, predicts that the new transit channel will accelerate the recovery of China-North Korea trade and bring it back to pre-epidemic levels. "The opening of the Yalu River Bridge will further promote North Korea-China trade."
He said North Korea particularly needs to import construction materials and industrial production equipment, including factory equipment components. However, Han Ki-beom also cautioned against expecting a major surge in trade.
He pointed out that Pyongyang's trading system has become increasingly centralized, and the country has tightened controls on imports and no longer allows factories and companies to carry out trade activities more autonomously. Foreign currency shortages could also be another constraint, he said, citing a sharp rise in North Korea's unofficial exchange rate for the U.S. dollar.
