Chinese experts suggested that following Xi\u2019s visit<\/a>, Beijing is expected to provide a large package of gifts to North Korea, with the bridge just a small part of it, Park said.<\/p>\nThe bridge itself was to have been a symbol of economic cooperation between the two countries, but instead it became one of the better-known North Korean white elephants, built for a glorious national purpose, but serving no function. But that will change once it opens.<\/p>\n
The new bridge will allow direct access for heavy cargo trucks, increase customs capacity, lower transportation costs and support development of Sinuiju, Joung Eunlee, the director of the Seoul-based Korea Institute for National Unification, told RFA.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bridge aligns with broader economic interests on both sides of the border,\u201d she said. \u201cChina has sought to strengthen Dandong\u2019s position as its principal trade gateway with North Korea, while Pyongyang is expected to increase imports of construction materials and industrial equipment for infrastructure and regional development projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Final touches<\/p>\n
In recent months, construction has continued at a breakneck pace, Chung observed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlong the northern access road to the bridge, satellite imagery also identified construction materials and temporary shelters for workers, the blue and orange objects visible along the roadside for more than one kilometer\u2014supporting work on the customs complex and road paving,\u201d Chung said.<\/p>\n
However, paving inside the customs complex and on access roads has yet to be completed, indicating the ground preparation and foundation work are still underway. So the final asphalt or concrete paving, lane marking and site cleanup must be completed before the customs facility can support regular freight clearance and vehicle traffic, Chung said.<\/p>\n
Construction on the North Korean side of the bridge is visible from China, Park told RFA.<\/p>\n
\u201cVehicles continue to carry construction materials across the bridge. It is expected to open this year,\u201d Park told RFA.<\/p>\n
The bridge stretches about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the customs facility on the Chinese side into North Korea, and the four-lane highway has now been fully paved in both directions. On June 28, Seoul-based media outlet\u00a0Daily NK\u00a0reported that buses have been seen conducting trial runs across it.<\/p>\n
Park said he was able to observe about 300 trucks crossing from China into North Korea and roughly the same number crossing back in the afternoon over the aging Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, which lies just upstream from the new bridge.<\/p>\n
The Friendship Bridge was built by the Japanese during World War II, making it older than North Korea itself. Because roughly 70% of Sino-North Korean trade traverses this bridge each year, but it was built for a different era, and can handle only a limited number of crossings per day, Park said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the new bridge opens, cargo volume is expected to increase several times over, dramatically transforming cross border logistics,\u201d Park said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Closer ties, increased trade As construction progressed, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited North Korea on June 8 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[136,49847,49846,49845,25577,129,3141,49848,49844],"class_list":["post-95686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pyongyang","tag-beijing","tag-chinese-government-footing-the-bill","tag-dandong-in-china-with-sinuiju-in-north-korea","tag-new-bridge-between-north-korea-and-china","tag-new-yalu-river-bridge","tag-pyongyang","tag-satellite-imagery","tag-sino-korean-friendship-bridge","tag-sino-north-korean-trade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}