Russia and North Korea open the first road link across shared border

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In this photo released by the Government of Primorsky Krai Region on Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, vehicles drive across the new bridge between Russia and North Korea named after the Soviet officer Yakov Novichenko, who is credited with saving North Korea's founding leader, Kim Il-sung, over the Tumannaya River in Primorsky Krai Region of Russia. (Dmitry Ignatenko/Government of Primorsky Krai Region via AP)

In this photo released by the Government of Primorsky Krai Region on Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, North Korean trucks drive across the new bridge between Russia and North Korea named after the Soviet officer Yakov Novichenko, who is credited with saving North Korea's founding leader, Kim Il-sung, over the Tumannaya River in Primorsky Krai Region of Russia. (Dmitry Ignatenko/Government of Primorsky Krai Region via AP) — In this photo released by the Government of Primorsky Krai Region on Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, vehicles drive across the new bridge between Russia and North Korea named after the Soviet officer Yakov Novichenko, who is credited with saving North Korea's founding leader, Kim Il-sung, over the Tumannaya River in Primorsky Krai Region of Russia. (Dmitry Ignatenko/Government of Primorsky Krai Region via AP)

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8:36 AM on Monday, September 7

By The Associated Press

Russia and North Korea opened the first road bridge across their shared border on Monday, a development Russian officials hailed as boosting the nations' deepening ties.

The bridge over the Tumen River is 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) long and has two lanes and will allow up to 300 vehicles a day to pass through a newly built border crossing point, the Russian government said in a statement.

“I am convinced that the expansion of transport infrastructure near the border will give a powerful boost to the further development of trade, economic, technological, scientific and cultural cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,” said Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who took part in the opening ceremony via video link.

Relations and exchange programs between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing in recent years, with North Korea supplying ammunitions and troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.

North Korea has been receiving Russian tourists since February 2024 amid slowly easing pandemic curbs.

North Korea and Russia, which are already served by a railway bridge and air service, agreed in 2024 to construct a bridge for automobiles over the Tumen River, which runs along North Korea’s borders with Russia and China. Construction began last year.