Satellite imagery suggests rapid progress on the Tumen River crossing, with Putin potentially attending an opening ceremony.
North Korean and Russian workers build a road bridge along the Tumen River on April 21, in this photo released the North’s official Rodong Sinmun the following day.
NEWS1
A road bridge across the Tumen River connecting North Korea and Russia is likely to open in early September, satellite imagery suggests, as construction on the long-delayed Russian side of the project accelerates. The bridge was agreed on by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their summit in Pyongyang in June 2024.
The prospect comes as President Donald Trump continues to make overtures to Kim, while North Korea maintains an ambiguous stance and instead appears to be showcasing its closeness to Russia — a move observers see as an attempt by Pyongyang to increase its leverage.
38 North, a U.S.-based website specializing in analysis of North Korea, said Monday that satellite images of the North Korea-Russia border area taken by the private satellite company Planet Labs show construction on the Russian side, which had recently been delayed, moving forward quickly.
The Russian government had originally set June 19 — the second anniversary of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty signed by the two countries’ leaders at their June 2024 summit — as the opening date. But it was pushed back after construction fell behind schedule. Construction has since picked up pace, and 38 North said that development makes a September opening increasingly likely.
“Imagery from Aug. 22 reveals the main route trucks will take through the complex has been paved and work to complete the final few hundred meters of roadway to the bridge is underway,” 38 North reported. Some sections remain unfinished, but the outlet said that it is unlikely to prevent an opening ceremony next month.
Russian soldiers stand guard on a railway bridge connecting North Korea and Russia.
REUTERS/YONHAP
Once complete, the bridge will give the two countries land infrastructure capable of quickly moving large volumes of cargo. Because the bridge can also carry passenger traffic, experts say it is likely to boost not only large-scale economic and military exchanges between the two countries but also tourism — one of Kim’s priority initiatives. Currently, exchange between North Korea and Russia relies mainly on the Tumen River railway bridge, built in 1952, and air travel.
As the first road bridge between North Korea and Russia — and a symbol of the countries’ deepening relationship since North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia — the bridge’s opening ceremony is expected to draw leaders from both countries, observers say.
North Korea began sending troops to fight alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region against Ukraine in late 2024, with an estimated 10,000-plus soldiers deployed and thousands reported killed or wounded, and both governments publicly confirmed the deployment in April 2025.
Speculation about Putin’s attendance at the bridge’s opening ceremony is bolstered by the fact that he is set to attend the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok — in the same region as the bridge — from Sept. 1 to 4, placing him in the area around the time the crossing is expected to open.
Kim “is making the most of a global environment that has shifted in his favor,” research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification Jeong Yoo-seok said. “He is likely to strengthen strategic cooperation with China and Russia to gain the upper hand in future negotiations with the United States.”
BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.