New China-North Korea bridge opens after more than a decade of delay

BEIJING (AP) — A new bridge linking China and North Korea opened Thursday after more than a decade of delay, signaling deeper ties between the two countries.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that a ceremony for the launch of the New Yalu River Bridge was held in the morning. An online video from state media outlet China News Service showed trucks adorned with the national flags of China and North Korea waiting on the bridge, which was also decorated with the flags.

Beijing expected that the four-lane, 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) crossing, which connects the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong to the North Korean city of Sinuiju, would further promote economic, trade and “people-to-people” exchanges.

Bridge opens after a 12-year delay

The bridge initially was expected to enter use in 2014, when China had apparently completed construction on its side. But the date came with no opening and without North Korea doing corresponding work on its side.

The absence of substantial work in Sinuiju fueled speculation that Pyongyang was wary of becoming more economically dependent on China or displeased with Beijing voting for United Nations resolutions toughening international sanctions on the North over its nuclear program. Some observers suggested North Korea and China also differed over the bridge’s location.

The setback over the bridge prompted an unusually sharp report in the Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which quoted Dandong residents expressing frustration over delays in what they had hoped would be an economic boon for their border city.

New link opens a month after launch of Russia-North Korea bridge

Observers said the new bridge would likely boost bilateral trade and enhance logistical efficiency gradually.

It is expected to lessen the burden on an existing yet aging bridge on the Dandong-Sinuiju route, which handles more than 70% of official trade between the two countries. That decades-old bridge carries a railway line as well as cars and trucks, but vehicle traffic can move only one way at a time.

The South Korean government said last year there were at least 17 active road and rail links across the porous North Korea-China border, which stretches more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles).

The new bridge’s launch came about a month after North Korea and Russia opened a road bridge as part of their efforts to cement relations. Experts say Chinese officials likely felt uneasy about its opening.

China has long been North Korea’s biggest trading partner and economic pipeline. But in past years, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has prioritized Moscow, sending thousands of troops and conventional weapons to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, apparently in exchange for military and economic assistance.

Kim has recently drawn closer to China with the apparent intent to improve his country’s economy and build a front against the United States. China, for its part, wants to restore its unique influence over North Korea. Last year, about 98% of North Korea’s external trade was with China.