Russia and North Korea have opened the primary highway bridge throughout their shared border, within the newest signal of the quickly deepening ties between the 2 international locations because the begin of the warfare in Ukraine.
The one-kilometre bridge spans the Tumen River between Khasan in Russia’s far east and Tumangang in North Korea, alongside a distant and sparsely populated stretch of the international locations’ shared border only a few miles from the coast.
Talking by video hyperlink throughout the bridge’s opening ceremony on Monday, Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, stated the brand new crossing would spur growth in a variety of areas, together with tourism, whereas creating new jobs
“I’m satisfied that the enlargement of cross-border transport infrastructure will present a robust impetus for the additional growth of commerce, financial, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation,” Mishustin stated.
The highway bridge is known as after the Soviet officer Yakov Novichenko, who’s credited with saving North Korea’s founding chief, Kim Il-sung, from an assassination try by a pro-South Korean group.
After the opening ceremony, convoys of automobiles crossed the bridge from either side.
Russia and the secretive North Korea regime are already linked by a railway bridge throughout the Tumen, in addition to common flights between Vladivostok and Pyongyang.
Ukrainian human rights teams have warned that the bridge could also be supposed to offer a discreet army logistics hall between the 2 international locations.
Reality Hounds, a Ukrainian human rights organisation, has described it as a probable future hall for transferring North Korean troops, building brigades and army officers into Russia, whereas permitting Russian know-how and assets to journey in the wrong way with much less threat of detection.
Ties between Moscow and Pyongyang have strengthened dramatically since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. North Korea has despatched 1000’s of troops to Russia’s Kursk area to assist Moscow repel a Ukrainian incursion launched there in 2024.
In return, Russia is believed to have offered North Korea with air-defence missiles, digital warfare gear, drones and spy-satellite know-how, based on South Korean intelligence.
Russian and North Korean officers have additionally touted North Korea as a brand new vacation vacation spot because the nation reopened to Russian vacationers in 2024, with 1000’s of Russians visiting its newly opened seashore resorts and ski slopes since then.
Russia’s more and more shut embrace of totalitarian North Korea has raised eyebrows even in Moscow.
Throughout an interview with the Russian broadcaster RBC final month, a reporter requested Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s longtime overseas minister, how the nation had “ended up” with simply “two allies – North Korea and Iran”.
Lavrov pushed again towards the premise, saying there was “nothing incorrect” with such firm.
On the similar time, a few of Russia’s conventional companions have proven rising frustration with Moscow’s persevering with warfare in Ukraine and the fallout it has brought about throughout the area.
Throughout a gathering in July, Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a longtime ally of Moscow, advised the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, that he was listening to from leaders of many international locations who questioned why Russia was nonetheless waging the warfare.
“The character of the battle isn’t fully clear for a lot of, together with us,” Tokayev advised Putin.
