As North Korea and Russia push ahead with construction of a road bridge over the Tumen River, Chinese diplomats stationed in North Korea visited the North Korea-China-Russia border area to review local conditions.
Yonhap News Agency and the Chinese Embassy in North Korea said Wang Chongling, a minister-counselor, led a delegation that visited North Hamgyong province and the city of Rason from April 25 to 30, inspecting five factories and exhibition facilities.
The embassy said Wang’s group also visited the Wonjong-ri trading port in Rason for “survey, research and inspection” activities. Wonjong-ri is a key hub for North Korea-China trade and links to the Quanhe trading port in Hunchun, China’s Jilin province.
Yonhap reported the trip included Jin Yanguang, China’s consul general in Chongjin, along with Jang Gwang-nam and Rim Gwang-ho, researchers at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry Asia 1 Bureau; Ri Jun-pil, head of Rason’s external affairs bureau; and Kim Song-chol, deputy head of North Hamgyong’s external affairs bureau.
The visit came shortly after North Korea and Russia officially set out a completion schedule for the Tumen River road bridge. On April 21, the two countries held a ceremony in the border area to mark the bridge connection and accelerate the project.
The bridge project was agreed at a June 2024 summit in Pyongyang between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty,” which took effect in December that year.
The new bridge is designed as a two-lane, two-way structure about 800 to 850 meters long and 10 meters wide. It will be built about 400 to 415 meters downstream from the existing Tumen River rail bridge, built in 1951 and known as the Korea-Russia Friendship Bridge.
The project is expected to strengthen overland links between the two countries and improve logistics efficiency.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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