Russia and North Korea open first road bridge across shared border

Russia and North Korea on Monday opened the first road bridge across their shared border, a one-kilometre span over the Tumen River linking Khasan in Russia's far east with Tumangang in North Korea. The crossing sits in a remote, sparsely populated section of the border, just a few miles from the coast.

Speaking via video link at the opening ceremony, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the new bridge would boost development in several areas, including tourism, and create new jobs. He said expanding cross-border transport links would give a strong push to trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation between the two countries. Following the ceremony, convoys of vehicles crossed the bridge from both directions.

The bridge is named after Soviet officer Yakov Novichenko, credited with saving North Korean founder Kim Il-sung from an assassination attempt by a pro-South Korean group.

Possible military use

Russia and North Korea are already linked by a railway bridge over the Tumen and by regular flights between Vladivostok and Pyongyang. However, Ukrainian human rights organisation Truth Hounds has warned the new road bridge could become a discreet military logistics corridor, potentially used to move North Korean troops, construction brigades and military officials into Russia, while allowing Russian technology and resources to travel the other way with less risk of detection.

Ties between the two countries have strengthened sharply since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia's Kursk region to help repel a Ukrainian incursion launched there in 2024. In return, South Korean intelligence believes Russia has supplied North Korea with air-defence missiles, electronic warfare equipment, drones and spy-satellite technology.

Since North Korea reopened to Russian tourists in 2024, officials from both countries have promoted it as a new holiday destination, with thousands of Russians visiting newly opened beach resorts and ski slopes. The closeness of the relationship has drawn attention even within Russia — Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last month defended the country's partnership with North Korea and Iran as its main allies. Meanwhile, some of Russia's traditional partners, including Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, expressed frustration in July over the continuing war in Ukraine.