North Korea and Russia deepen cooperation: while building the Tumen River Bridge connecting the two countries, they are also constructing "large-scale immigration management facilities."
On the 20th, according to foreign media reports, North Korea and Russia are building a vehicle-access bridge across the border. At the same time, on the Russian side, a large-scale immigration management facility will be constructed.
On that day, the U.S.-based North Korean specialist media NK News cited the tender announcement content of Russia's border facility management agency Rosgranstroy, reporting that Russia plans to invest approximately $40 million (approximately 55.1 billion Korean won) for the construction of the immigration checkpoint.
According to aerial view images of the facilities released on X (formerly Twitter), Russia plans to construct an immigration management office headquarters, service and operation buildings, cargo inspection facilities, garages, etc., between 2025 and 2027 over a three-year period.
In June 2024, North Korea and Russia reached an agreement to build a vehicle-access bridge connecting the two countries. Currently, although there is a railway bridge connecting Dandong Station in North Korea with Khasan Station in Russia across the Tumen River, there is no bridge for vehicles.
The bridge began construction in April and is planned to be completed in the second half of 2026. Including the access channel, the total length of the bridge between North Korea and Russia is 4.7 kilometers, with the main part of the bridge being 7 meters wide and 1 kilometer long. Among this, Russia will construct 424 meters, and North Korea will construct 581 meters, with plans to complete it by June 2026.
According to satellite photos of the Tumen River area taken by the commercial satellite ICEYE on May 15, it can be confirmed that construction of the bridge has begun. ICEYE analysis indicates that on the northern Russian side, work on what appears to be the foundation for a large-scale immigration management facility is underway; on the southern North Korean side, work at 50-meter intervals on what appears to be the base construction for the bridge piers is visible.
Experts analyze that since North Korea and Russia have effectively built a blood alliance due to the signing of treaties and the dispatching of North Korean troops to Russia in 2024, the two countries are very likely to continue stable cooperation for quite a long time in the future.
Source: Chosun Ilbo
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1835445865438467/
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