(Beijing = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Hyun-jung = During North Korea's State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un's surprise visit to Dandong, Liaoning Province, China, which borders North Korea and China, on the 24th, attention is focused on the New Yalu Bridge, which was used to cross the border.
As Chairman Kim visited China by crossing this bridge just 9 days after it was officially opened on the 15th, some say that it is rapidly emerging as a symbol of North Korea-China friendship and economic closeness beyond a simple bridge.
China's official Xinhua News Agency reported that Chairman Kim visited Dandong on this day, had a meeting with Wang Huning, chairman of the National People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who ranks fourth in China's power hierarchy, and visited the Anti-American and Assistance Memorial Hall and an automobile factory together.
Xinhua News Agency did not mention the route by which Chairman Kim visited Dandong, but said that when he left Dandong, Chairman Wang went to the New Yalu Bridge to see him off, implying that he used that bridge during this visit.
Previously, South Korean government sources also reported that Chairman Kim visited Dandong via the New Yalu River Bridge.
The New Yalu Bridge, which connects Sinuiju and Dandong in North Pyongan Province, is a four-lane cable-stayed bridge with a length of 3,026 m and a width of 33 m, completed in 2014 by China at a cost of about 2.2 billion yuan (about 440 billion won).
A cable-stayed bridge is a bridge whose upper deck is supported by cables extending diagonally from tall pylons. The New Yalu Bridge, which crosses the Yalu River, has two H-shaped pylons about 195 m high, and the main bridge section between the two pylons is 636 m long.
Including the connecting roads between North Korea and China, the total section is approximately 20 km.
The New Yalu River Bridge was not opened for 12 years after completion due to delays in maintenance of customs clearance facilities such as North Korea's connecting road and customs. Meanwhile, with the ups and downs of North Korea-China relations due to North Korea's nuclear and missile development and the border closure following the spread of COVID-19, it was once considered a symbolic facility that revealed the limits of cooperation between the two countries.
The improvement in North Korea-China relations became visible after Chairman Kim attended China's military parade for the 80th anniversary of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japan and the Victory in the World Anti-Fascist War (Victory Day) in September last year.
Following the North Korea-China summit at the time, international passenger train service between North Korea and China resumed in March of this year for the first time in six years, and the recovery of relations between the two countries accelerated with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Pyongyang in April and Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to North Korea in June.
The official opening of the New Yalu River Bridge was evaluated as a representative achievement showing this trend of improving relations.
Since land logistics between Dandong and Sinuiju have been largely dependent on the China-North Korea (China and North Korea) Friendship Bridge, an old bridge completed in 1943, the New Yalu River Bridge is also considered a signal of economic closeness between North Korea and China.
The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge is a structure where a single-track railway and a single-lane road are located side by side, which limits vehicle traffic and has limitations in transporting large cargo due to its age.
On the other hand, the New Yalu River Bridge is considered a key infrastructure that will support the expansion of trade between North Korea and China as it allows two-way traffic of large container vehicles.
There is also an interpretation that Chairman Kim's entry into China through the newly opened Yalu River Bridge was intended to highlight to the outside world his direct use of a new channel for North Korea-China economic cooperation and to send a message of the will to restore relations between the two countries and expand exchanges.
There are also observations that China may also reaffirm its influence on Korean Peninsula issues by expanding trade and human exchanges with North Korea through the New Yalu River Bridge, while also using it as a negotiating card with the United States.
Meanwhile, Chairman Kim held a meeting with President Wang in Dandong on this day and said, "I hope to continue the historical friendship with China and expand practical cooperation to bring practical benefits to the people of both countries."
He indirectly mentioned that this visit was to commemorate the anniversary of anti-American aid (helping North Korea against the United States) on the 25th, but he was seen on China Central Television (CCTV) visiting an automobile manufacturing plant in Dandong and looking around, and is also being assessed as having visited China to discuss and coordinate the details of economic cooperation.
