First Highway Bridge Between North Korea and Russia Completed

North Korea has described the first road bridge on its narrow border with Russia as a concrete sign of tightening ties, in line with the advantages Pyongyang enjoys from powerful neighbors Moscow and Beijing, state media reported on Tuesday.

Experts reported that the bridge extending to Russia over the Tumen River and the Chinese bridge under construction are part of a transformation that offers Pyongyang, which is subject to Western sanctions, the economic and strategic options it has been seeking for a long time.

Professor Lim Eul-chul from Kyungnam University announced that North Korea will simultaneously secure two important land routes connecting it with Russia and China, thus promoting competition between the two countries and maximizing their gains.

He said the bridges could also be a message to the United States that North Korea does not need to ask Washington to lift sanctions or make concessions on nuclear disarmament in order to negotiate.

Russia stated that the bridge was designed to accommodate the increasing growth in freight transport with a daily capacity of up to 300 vehicles, in addition to existing rail and air connections between neighboring countries.

Ukrainian human rights group Truth Hounds has previously warned that the new bridge could become a direct artery for North Korean troops, construction brigades and military officials to cross into Russia, while Russian technology and resources could flow in the opposite direction.

"The completion of the bridge is an important event that gives a new dynamic impetus to the overall bilateral cooperation," North Korean official Pak Thae Song told the official KCNA news agency. he said.

The two countries are already connected by the China-Korea Friendship Bridge, which passenger trains use regularly, but this bridge has limited capacity.

After a long break, the bridge was partially reopened and daily passenger train services with China resumed earlier in the year, but the issuance of tourist visas to Chinese citizens, who once made up the vast majority of visitors from abroad, has not yet resumed.

North Korea has long exercised strict control over foreign visitors and effectively closed its borders at the start of the pandemic six years ago. Experts expect the New Yalu River Bridge, which will be an alternative to and eventually replace the China-Korea Friendship Bridge, to be completed this year.

Lim added that the completion of the bridge sends a political and geopolitical message indicating the formation of the "North Korea-China-Russia continental triangular bloc".