Kim, Putin Near Completion Of First-Ever Road Link As Military Partnership Grows

North Korea and Russia are nearing completion of their first road bridge across the Tumen River, potentially giving the two increasingly close military partners a new overland route for moving goods across their 11-mile-long border.

The North Korean approach to the bridge is effectively finished, including a customs building and controlled entry point, while work on the Russian side remains underway on border facilities and the connecting road, Defense News reported Wednesday, citing half-meter-resolution Planet imagery. This may be a key example of a lasting relationship between Russia and North Korea, one analyst told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“The bridge suggests that the Russia-North Korea relationship is not confined to the short-term domain, not least the duration of the Ukraine War,” Edward Howell, an international relations lecturer at the University of Oxford, told the DCNF. “The speed at which it has been constructed — albeit with a few delays in the last few months — suggests an incentive on the part of both Moscow and Pyongyang to use the soon-to-be completed bridge for trade but also the transport of munitions and equipment into and out of Russia.”

However, this bridge does not mean Russia’s relationship with North Korea is guaranteed to last, another analyst said.

“This is a transactional relationship. North Korea provides arms, capabilities, and troops. Russia pays for this with hard currency, oil, foodstuffs, new weapons systems, upgrades to weapons systems, and technological support for developing systems,” Bruce Bechtol Jr., Professor of Political Science at Angelo State University, told the DCNF. “If the level of support that Russia needs from North Korea largely declines after the war in Ukraine is over, it is likely that the current high level economic and military support to North Korea from Russia will significantly decline … This is not the Cold War and North Korea gets nothing for free.”

The bridge sits at Tumangang, a remote border area that historically served as a rail hub for Soviet-era trade before activity declined following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Defense News reported. Activity around the crossing has increased since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as Pyongyang has supplied Moscow with ammunition and troops.

“Some military-related traffic is likely to cross this bridge. But it is unlikely to increase the speed or largesse of shipments of arms going from North Korea to Russia,” Bechtol told the DCNF. “This is already quite robust.”

The project comes as military cooperation between the two governments continues to deepen. North Korea has supplied Russia with more than 15 million rounds of artillery ammunition measured in 152 mm shell equivalents and has continued providing weapons systems including short-range ballistic missiles, Reuters reported Monday, citing South Korea’s Defense Ministry through the office of lawmaker Yu Yong-weon.

“We have already seen North Korea pledge up to 50,000 more troops to assist the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine, and, earlier this year, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov announced how Moscow planned to strengthen security cooperation with Pyongyang up to 2031,” Howell told the DCNF. “Thus, the North Korea-Russia relationship, whilst predominantly transactional after the first year of the Ukraine War (a basic cash-for-munitions exchange) has now become more strategic.”

Pyongyang also continues preparations for another troop deployment to Russia, though South Korean officials had not detected signs that another deployment was imminent, Reuters reported, citing the South Korean Defense Ministry. North Korean missiles used in Ukraine may have improved in accuracy as Pyongyang accumulated battlefield data and received Russian technical advice and component support, the outlet reported, citing an assessment from South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Agency.

The two countries formalized their increasingly close security relationship in 2024 by signing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that includes provisions for military assistance if either side comes under armed attack, according to Russia’s State Duma.

The bridge itself may not immediately transform the flow of goods. The Russian side remains behind the North Korean side, with construction still visible on customs infrastructure and the approach road, Defense News reported, citing satellite imagery.

Russia is aiming to open the vehicle crossing in early September after an earlier target slipped, NK News reported in July, citing Ivan Stepanov, the head of the Russian border village of Khasan. Russian authorities see economic and social potential in the project, Stepanov told the outlet.

“We must also remember that the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, signed by the two countries on June 19, 2024, makes clear how cooperation is not limited to solely the security and defence domains,” Howell told the DCNF. “In the event of any conclusion to the war, even if Russia no longer needs North Korean troops, the relationship — whilst likely to change — is not likely to end.”