The bridge spans the Tumen River, also known as the Tumana River, which forms a 17-kilometre-long border between North Korea and Russia.
“The completion of this bridge is a significant event that gives a new impetus to bilateral cooperation as a whole,” said a senior North Korean official, Pak Tae-song, according to the official North Korean news agency KCNA.
Until now, the only modes of transport connecting Russia and North Korea were rail and air.
This one-kilometre-long bridge, which was built in around 16 months, “symbolises the aspiration to strengthen friendly, good-neighbourly relations” between Russia and North Korea, according to a statement from the Russian government.
The Hassan border post, which will be able to “handle 300 vehicles and 2,325 people a day”, was also built as part of this programme, the implementation of which began on 30 April 2025, according to the same source.
«‘Relations between Russia and North Korea are currently at an unprecedented level of comprehensive military cooperation,’ Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin emphasised in a speech delivered via video link during the bridge’s inauguration.
According to the North Korean news agency KCNA, this new infrastructure is expected to strengthen ‘economic cooperation between North Korea and Russia’.
In July, the South Korean central bank announced its estimate that North Korea’s GDP had grown by more than 3 per cent in 2025 for the third consecutive year, and described economic cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang as a “significant driver”.
An article written by ERTNews, initially published on 8 September 2026, 09:43 (CEST)