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The Washington Post

North Korea shares a border with three countries – South Korea, China and Russia.
The one with Russia is just 18 kilometres, following the Tumen River and its estuary in the far northeast.
There is one lone crossing, dubbed the “Friendship Bridge”. It opened in 1959 and offers the two nations a fairly basic rail connection.
Last week, amid a period of relative calm on the oft-tense Korean Peninsula, Russian representatives travelled to North Korea to discuss an idea: they should open another bridge.
Though the planning appears to be at a preliminary stage, it may show that Russia and North Korea are looking toward a trading future beyond sanctions and military tensions.
The two nations have long suggested a crossing that would allow vehicles to go between them without a lengthy detour through China.
And Wednesday, the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East announced in a statement that the two sides would create a working group on a new crossing.
“There are 23 automobile checkpoints between [North Korea] and China, and not one with Russia,” the ministry quoted Ro Tu-chol, a North Korean minister, as saying during the meeting.
“Currently, when importing goods from [Russia’s far east], they do not come across the border with Russia, but through China. This greatly extends the path.”
Ro suggested expanding the existing bridge, according to the statement. The Russian representative at the meeting, Alexander Galushka, the minister for the development of the Russia’s far east, suggested building a semi-permanent bridge of pontoons.

The Russia-North Korea summit caught the attention of NK News, which reported that the two nations would “push ahead” with the new border crossing.
Anthony Rinna, an analyst on Russian foreign policy in East Asia for Sino-NK, told the North Korea-watching publication that the new border crossing could be used to “alleviate any unforeseen problems, such as logistical or technical glitches that may undermine North Korea’s rail links.”
The proposed bridge may be more noteworthy for its symbolic value than economic worth, said Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and co-editor of North Korean Economy Watch.
Trade between Russia and North Korea is insignificant, Katzeff Silberstein added, largely because of multilateral sanctions imposed by the United Nations, but “there also seems to be a belief that in the longer run, trade will pick back up again”.
Russia and North Korea certainly have a trading history. During the cold war, the Soviet Union was easily North Korea’s most important financial ally, accounting for as much as half of North Korea’s foreign trade during the 1970s and 1980s.
It was only after the end of communism that Moscow and Pyongyang drifted apart, with Russia’s new president, Boris Yeltsin, seeking a closer relationship with Seoul.
Things improved when Russian President Vladimir Putin took power: he visited Pyongyang in 2000 and received adulating praise in North Korean state media.
However, the economic links between the two nations did not increase by much: in 2013, Russia amounted to just 1 per cent of North Korea’s foreign trade, according to one study, far below China.
Though both sides have expressed hope for better economic ties, one detail – North Korea’s international pariah status because of its pursuit of nuclear weapons – has stood in the way. Russia has supported a number of UN votes on sanctions against North Korea; in late December, new multilateral sanctions limited the number of North Koreans who can work in Russia and other countries, arguably the two nations’ most important economic link.
Occasionally, foreign tourists cross the Russian border on trains from North Korea. It happens so infrequently, according to one traveller, that border guards seem confused by it.
While it is thought to be losing money, the terminal at Rajin port could provide Russia with an important regional foothold if sanctions were lifted. There are also hopes of eventually connecting to South Korea via rail – a move that could open up a freight route to and from Europe through Russia – or of a trans-Korean pipeline to provide Russian natural gas to both nations.
And so Russia appears to be keeping its economic options open in North Korea. Last year, a Russian firm gave North Korea a new internet connection, apparently running fibre-optic lines over the railway bridge. Now the Russian state is planning a new bridge.
“Sooner or later North Korea should come out of isolation,” said Artyom Lukin, a professor of international politics at the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok.
“Then the bridge will be in high demand.”


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North Korea

Russia wants to build another bridge to North Korea, so trade doesn’t have to go through China

North Korea’s border with Russia just 18 kilometres, following the Tumen River and its estuary in the far northeast. There is one lone crossing, dubbed the ‘Friendship Bridge’ Photo: Google Maps

Tu Chol, vice-premier of the Cabinet and chairman of the State Planning Commission, talks with the Russian government economic delegation headed by Alexandr Galushka, minister of Development of Far East who is chairman of the Russian side of the DPRK-Russia intergovernmental committee for cooperation in trade, economy and science and technology, who paid a courtesy call to him at the People's Palace of Culture on Wednesday, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang March 22, 2018. KCNA/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT.

China-North Korea trade falls to near four-year low in January as sanctions bite

A truck crossing the Friendship Bridge from the North Korean town of Sinuiju to the Chinese border city of Dandong last month. China’s January trade with North Korea fell to the lowest level since at least June 2014. Photo: AFP

A truck with a North Korean license plate drives away from the Quanhe border crossing between China and North Korea in Yanbian in northeastern China's Jilin province, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. South Korea is closely watching North Korea over the possibility it may launch another intercontinental ballistic missile as soon as Saturday when it celebrates its founding anniversary. (AP Photo)

Boom goes bust in Chinese border city as UN sanctions on North Korea bite

UN sanctions – which Beijing has backed as it grows tired of its cold war-era ally’s nuclear and missile tests – are buffeting Dandong’s economy, which slowed in 2016. Photo: AFP

In this photo taken on January 11, 2018, a four-lane, 350 million USD bridge (L) with a new customs zone is seen over the Yalu river between the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in China's northeast Liaoning province. Dandong has bet its economy on trade and investment with North Korea, seeing the benefits of the North's economic growth and rapacious consumption of Chinese products. / AFP PHOTO / Chandan KHANNA / TO GO WITH China-NKorea-Nuclear-Economy, FOCUS by Ryan MCMORROW

In this photo taken on January 9, 2018, a truck returns over the Friendship Bridge from the North Korean town of Sinuiju to the Chinese border city of Dandong, in China's northeast Liaoning province. Dandong has bet its economy on trade and investment with North Korea, seeing the benefits of the North's economic growth and rapacious consumption of Chinese products. / AFP PHOTO / Chandan KHANNA / TO GO WITH China-NKorea-Nuclear-Economy, FOCUS by Ryan MCMORROW

In this photo taken on January 9, 2018, a truck (top) goes over the Friendship Bridge leading to the North Korean town of Sinuiju from the Chinese border city of Dandong, in China's northeast Liaoning province. Dandong has bet its economy on trade and investment with North Korea, seeing the benefits of the North's economic growth and rapacious consumption of Chinese products. / AFP PHOTO / Chandan KHANNA / TO GO WITH China-NKorea-Nuclear-Economy, FOCUS by Ryan MCMORROW

This photo taken on January 9, 2018 shows the North Korean town of Sinuiju, seen from Dandong in China's northeast Liaoning province. Dandong has bet its economy on trade and investment with North Korea, seeing the benefits of the North's economic growth and rapacious consumption of Chinese products. / AFP PHOTO / Chandan KHANNA / TO GO WITH China-NKorea-Nuclear-Economy, FOCUS by Ryan MCMORROW

News

Asia

East Asia

The two nations have long suggested a crossing that would allow vehicles to go between them without a lengthy detour through China


Russia

China-Russia relations