Tensions erupt as North Korea ‘left seething’ over £89m Russian bridge delays

North Korea has been left furious by its neighbour, Russia, after the Russians failed to complete their side of a landmark road bridge. Officials in Rason, a special city in the northeastern tip of North Korea, have expressed open frustration as the long-awaited crossing sits idle and a new opening date remains uncertain.

An unnamed source in North Hamgyong province said on Tuesday (June 23) that North Korea had been pushing aggressively to open the Tumen River automobile bridge – the first vehicle-dedicated crossing between the two countries – by June 19, the second anniversary of the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between North Korea and Russia. The treaty, signed in June 2024 by Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, established a wide-ranging alliance covering security, economic and political cooperation. Despite severe shortages of funds and materials over recent months, North Korea managed to complete all preparations on its side of the bridge, but the same cannot be said for Russia, leaving the North Koreans increasingly frustrated.

In North Korea, customs and quarantine facilities have been completed, the bridge deck has been laid and asphalt has been paved on the approach roads leading to the crossing. Russia, however, has failed to complete ancillary construction or pave connecting roads on its side, more than two months after a bridge-linking ceremony was held in April. No confirmed opening date has been set.

“Our officials are beside themselves with frustration that the Tumen River bridge opening, which we pushed hard to achieve on the second anniversary of the Korea-Russia treaty, has been delayed due to Russia’s pathetic construction problems,” the source said, according to Daily NK.

In response, the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party’s highest decision-making body, issued an emergency directive on June 19 to the Rason city party committee and the Border Security General Bureau, ordering them to revise the opening schedule and reorganise the border control zone, the source added.

The directive came after assessments concluded that at least another year would be needed before the full set of planned facilities could be operational and regular traffic could flow.

The long-delayed bridge has now sparked a furious diplomatic row, with the project exacerbating a brewing clash between Moscow, Beijing and the North Korean government in Pyongyang. Insiders revealed China is demanding navigation rights through the Tumen River to access the East Sea. However, the bridge’s low clearance could block larger ships, triggering an urgent, high-stakes standoff.

As a result, opportunistic North Korean officials are plotting to weaponise Russia’s construction delays to “squeeze” massive economic concessions out of China. At the top of their hitlist is forcing Beijing to finally open the New Yalu River Bridge – a key crossing between Sinuiju and Dandong that has been mysteriously left abandoned for years, despite being completely finished.

The £89million Khasan-Tumangang bridge spans the Tumen River on the remote Far Eastern border, creating the first-ever direct road link between Russia and North Korea. Costing roughly 9 billion rubles, the two-lane, 0.6-mile structure connects the Russian settlement of Khasan with Tumangang in North Korea. Once fully operational, the border crossing is designed to handle up to 300 vehicles and nearly 3,000 people per day.

Rason is a strategically vital border city that serves as a rare capitalist experiment in which free-market trade and foreign investment are permitted. Found where North Korea, Russia and China meet, it serves as a critical trade hub thanks to its year-round, ice-free ports.