The first road bridge linking Russia and North Korea has opened, allowing the two countries to more easily move cargo and passengers between their borders across the Tumen River. Pyongyang state media said the bridge will be used for “personnel exchanges, tourism and trade.” But the Ukrainian OSINT group Truth Hounds said the bridge is intended “primarily to establish a covert military logistics corridor” to support Russia in the Ukraine war. It comes as relations between the two countries have grown since the start of the Ukraine war, with Russia’s Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un previously promising that both countries would help each other in the event of “aggression” against either of them. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin described the bridge as a “new symbol of friendship”, while North Korean Prime Minister Pak Thae Song said it was a “historic event”. Up to 300 vehicles and 2,323 people can cross the bridge daily, Russian state media TASS reports. Satellite images reported by the BBC in May this year showed the kilometer-long bridge along with several new access roads, a border checkpoint, supporting infrastructure and parking facilities. There are air links, as well as the rail link between the two countries, but until now the only road link was an improvised solution in which, by special agreement, wooden planks were placed on the railway bridge to allow cars to pass through. according to Reuters. The Russian government said the bridge will initially be used to transport cargo, Reuters reported, before opening to passenger traffic later this year. The bridge would provide a “powerful impetus for the further development of trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation,” Mishustin said. Appearing at the opening ceremony via video link, he described ties between Moscow and Pyongyang as “of an unprecedented high level.” The most immediate impact may be increased arms exports to Russia. Investigators from South Korea’s spy agency estimate that North Korea has already transferred between $7 billion and $14 billion worth of rockets, missiles and artillery shells using ships. An estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers are actively fighting Ukrainians in Russia.
