This Saturday, Kim Jong-un unexpectedly crossed a bridge that he had been waiting for 12 years to connect China and North Korea. A gigantic steel and concrete structure, built over the waters of the Yalu River, which for a long time remained practically deserted, became a symbol of the rift between two old communist allies. Until just a few days ago, when the first trucks began to circulate on its four lanes. Now, the North Korean leader has used this new gateway to the Asian giant to stage the renewed rapprochement between Beijing and Pyongyang.
The news was reported by the South Korean agency Yonhap and later confirmed by the Seoul Ministry of Unification. Kim arrived in the Chinese city of Dandong after crossing the newly inaugurated New Yalu River Bridge, which connects with the North Korean town of Sinuiju. The North Korean leader would have been received by the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang.
Neither Beijing nor Pyongyang have initially offered official details about the trip program, which comes 13 months after Kim's last known visit to Chinese territory. It is also not confirmed whether he will hold a new meeting with President Xi Jinping.
The choice of the border crossing has powerful political symbolism. The bridge, 3,026 meters long, was completed in 2014 thanks to a Chinese investment of about 310 million dollars. But North Korea never completed the access roads or customs facilities needed to put it into operation. International sanctions and, later, the isolation imposed during the pandemic ended up turning that infrastructure into a huge, useless project. Its inauguration, on October 15, was presented by Li Qiang as the beginning of a "new stage" in bilateral relations.
The new bridge will allow heavy goods, raw materials and energy products to be transported to a North Korean economy suffocated by sanctions. China remains, by far, North Korea's largest trading partner. Its exports to the neighboring country reached $2.3 billion in 2025, an increase of 25% compared to the previous year, although still below levels prior to the tightening of UN sanctions.
Behind this economic reopening there is a much deeper diplomatic reconciliation. For years, Beijing and Pyongyang had a rather uneasy relationship. China criticized North Korea's nuclear and ballistic tests and supported the sanctions of the United Nations Security Council, while Kim was suspicious of the influence that his powerful neighbor exerted on his economy. The isolation during the pandemic and the subsequent rapprochement of the North Korean leader with Vladimir Putin increased that distance.
The thaw began to become visible in September 2025, when Kim traveled to Beijing to attend the military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory over Japan in World War II. His presence alongside Xi Jinping and Putin in Tiananmen Square offered a photograph of enormous geopolitical charge: the three leaders exhibited their harmony with the West. Kim then held a bilateral meeting with Xi, the first between the two in more than six years.
The next big gesture came last June, when the Chinese president landed in Pyongyang for his first state visit to North Korea since 2019. Xi assured that "Beijing's support for the traditional friendship with Pyongyang would remain unchanged, regardless of international changes."
Alliance between Kim and Putin
But all this renewed closeness also responds to a strategic calculation. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kim has found a second great protector in Moscow. North Korea has supplied ammunition, missiles and thousands of soldiers to support the Russian war effort. In exchange, Pyongyang has obtained economic resources and, according to Western governments, military assistance. The mutual defense treaty signed by Kim and Putin in 2024 cemented an alliance that has partially reduced North Korea's dependence on China.
For Beijing, regaining influence over its neighbor is essential. China does not want to lose prominence in a Korean peninsula where it maintains important strategic interests and where the US military presence continues to be a concern.
Kim's visit to the Asian giant occurs in full regional diplomatic effervescence. Next month, the Chinese city of Shenzhen will host the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), which brings together 21 economies from both sides of the Pacific and where Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump could meet. In recent weeks, speculation has also circulated about a possible meeting between the US president and the North Korean leader, either on the border between the two Koreas or taking advantage of the Shenzhen meeting.
