Russia and North Korea open first road bridge across Tumen River to expand transport links

First direct road crossing

Russia and North Korea inaugurated their first road border crossing on Monday, establishing a direct vehicular route across the Tumen River along their 20-kilometre shared border. The crossing links North Korea with Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East, where Vladivostok serves as regional capital. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korean Prime Minister Pak Thae-song led the opening ceremony via video conference. Russian authorities stated that the connection is designed to lower transport costs, expand the volume of bilateral trade, and create more reliable supply chains between Moscow and Pyongyang. Before the opening, cross-border ground transport between the two countries was limited to rail traffic across the adjacent Friendship railway bridge, built in 1959.

Capacity and border facilities

The newly constructed bridge spans approximately one kilometre across the river with two traffic lanes, integrated into an overpass system that extends almost five kilometres in total length. On the Russian side of the border, construction crews completed a dedicated vehicle checkpoint near the settlement of Khasan. According to Russian government announcements, the checkpoint is designed to handle up to 300 vehicles and more than 2,300 people daily once operating at full capacity. Transport planners noted that existing rail and direct air links between Moscow and Pyongyang were no longer sufficient to meet growing freight demands between the two allied states.

Bilateral diplomacy and construction timeline

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed on the bridge project during Putin's visit to Pyongyang in 2024, his first official visit to North Korea in 25 years. That summit resulted in a bilateral treaty containing a mutual defense clause in the event of aggression against either country. Physical construction on the Tumen River crossing started in April 2025, taking just over two years from the bilateral agreement to completion. Diplomatic exchanges continued in mid-July when Putin met North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui in Moscow for their second meeting in less than a year, expressing Russian gratitude for North Korean military assistance.

Military ties and ceremonial tribute

The infrastructure opening follows closer strategic and military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. North Korea deployed troops to Russia's Kursk region in 2024 to assist Russian forces against a Ukrainian cross-border offensive, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stating that up to 50,000 North Korean soldiers could be deployed in Russia. The bridge was named in honour of Yakov Novichenko, a Soviet Red Army officer and North Korean Hero of Labor who was severely wounded in March 1946 after throwing himself onto a grenade to protect Kim Il Sung. The first vehicle across the crossing was a red Zaporozhets car driven by Novichenko's grandson, Nikolai Shcherbitsky. Speaking at the ceremony, Mishustin addressed the expected economic and technological impact of the new route.

I am convinced that the expansion of cross-border transport infrastructure will provide a powerful impetus for the further development of trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation.