North Korea and Russia cement ties with first road bridge

Seoul, South Korea: North Korea and Russia have begun building the first road bridge linking them across their river border, both governments said Thursday as they expand bilateral ties following the deployment of North Korean troops and weapons to help Russia's war against Ukraine.

The two countries held a simultaneous groundbreaking ceremony for the two-lane bridge on their respective sides of the border Wednesday, according to their state media. They currently have a cross-border railway link.

"This is a big milestone for Russian-Korean relations," Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin of Russia said when he talked with his North Korean counterpart, Pak Thae-song, through a video link Wednesday, according to Russian news agency Tass.

Pak said that the new bridge would mark "a historic monument" to the efforts by North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia to deepen bilateral relations, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

The new bridge will be a little over a half-mile long, and its construction is expected to take 18 months, according to Russian state media. When the bridge is completed, it will help expand passenger and commercial traffic, as well as tourism, the North's state media said.

North Korea and Russia, whose relations had cooled in the post-Cold War decades, have reinvigorated their ties since 2023, when North Korea began supplying Russia with artillery shells, ballistic missiles and other conventional weapons to help aid its war against Ukraine.

When Putin visited Pyongyang last June, the two countries signed a treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership, which called for mutual defense and economic and other cooperation. During that visit, they agreed to construct a bridge for automobiles over the Tumen River, which runs along North Korea's borders with Russia and China.

Later last year, North Korea also began sending its troops to fight alongside Russian forces to help them retake territories lost to Ukraine in its Kursk region.

On Monday, North Korea confirmed its troop deployment for the first time, and Putin formally thanked the country, promising not to forget the sacrifices of the North Korean soldiers.

North Korea has sent 15,000 troops to Russia and suffered 4,700 casualties, including 600 killed, whose bodies were cremated and repatriated to the North, South Korean intelligence officials told parliament this week.

In return, Russia has provided North Korea with air defense missiles, electronic warfare equipment, drones and spy satellite technologies, they said. Russia also imported 15,000 North Korean workers who earn cash for Kim's government, they said.

When North Korea unveiled its biggest navy ship, which it called a 5,000-ton destroyer, last week, analysts said it was fitted with various weapons systems, some of which appeared to have been built with Russian help. On Wednesday, North Korea said Kim watched the test launch of missiles from the ship earlier this week.