North Korea and Russia have begun constructing their first highway hyperlink, the 2 international locations introduced, hailing the development of a bridge over a border river as a serious improvement that may additional broaden their political and financial ties.
The kilometre-long Tumangang Highway bridge, which is anticipated to take 18 months to assemble, goals to broaden cross-border journey of individuals, tourism and circulation of commodities, Russian and North Korean information businesses reported.
Relations and change packages between the 2 international locations have been flourishing in recent times, with North Korea supplying ammunition and troops to assist Russia’s warfare in opposition to Ukraine.
On Thursday, North Korea and Russia concurrently held a ground-breaking ceremony for the bridge’s building of their respective border cities of Tumangang and Khasan on both facet of the Tumen River, near their present rail ‘Friendship Bridge’.
North Korean Premier Pak Thae Tune mentioned the bridge’s building can be remembered as ‘a historic monument’ in bilateral ties, North Korea’s KCNA reported Thursday.
‘This can be a massive milestone for Russian-Korean relations,’ Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin added, in line with Russian information company TASS.
‘We’re making a dependable foundation for nearer cooperation between our two international locations, a highway for an open and fruitful dialogue.’
It comes days after Pyongyang confirmed for the primary time that it had despatched fight troops to Russia to assist it reclaim elements of the Kursk area that Ukrainian forces seized in a shocking incursion final yr.
Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea and promised to not neglect the sacrifices of North Korean troopers for Russia.
The kilometre-long Tumangang Highway bridge is anticipated to take 18 months to assemble and goals to broaden cross-border journey of individuals, tourism and circulation of commodities
Satellite tv for pc photographs shared by South Korean firm SI Analytics earlier this yr confirmed building supplies and preparations being made
This picture supplied by the North Korean authorities, reveals a ground-breaking ceremony for the development of a bridge between North Korea and Russia, in Rason Municipality, North Korea Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea’s chief Kim Jong Un change paperwork throughout a signing ceremony of the brand new partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024
In response to a South Korean authorities intelligence evaluation shared with lawmakers on Wednesday, North Korea has despatched about 15,000 troopers to Russia, and 4,700 of them have been killed or wounded.
Pyongyang is believed to have supplied Moscow with ballistic missiles, 120 long-range artillery techniques and 120 multiple-launch rocket techniques, in line with Ukraine’s army intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, together with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells.
That represents essentially the most important direct army bundle handed to the Russians by any nation for the reason that warfare broke out.
State media in North Korea mentioned its fighters had made an ‘vital contribution’ to Russia’s warfare effort by driving Ukrainians out of Russian territory – assumed to be a reference to Kursk.
North Korean supreme chief Kim Jong Un was quoted as saying: ‘They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.’
In the meantime, the Russian chief of basic workers Valery Gerasimov, informed Putin: ‘I need to level out the participation of servicemen from the Democratic Folks’s Republic of Korea within the liberation of the Kursk Area’s border areas.
‘In accordance with the Treaty on Complete Strategic Partnership between our international locations, they supplied important help in defeating the invading group of the Ukrainian armed forces.
‘Troopers and officers of the Korean Folks’s Military, finishing up fight missions shoulder to shoulder with Russian servicemen, displayed excessive professionalism, fortitude, braveness and heroism in repulsing the Ukrainian invasion,’ he mentioned.
However a slew of studies recommend North Korean troopers carried out woefully on the battlefield as they contended with fashionable warfare techniques, together with Ukraine’s widespread use of drones.
North Korean troopers have been additionally reportedly handled extraordinarily poorly by their Russian commanders, struggled to grasp orders and didn’t combine into their models.
This macabre picture reportedly reveals a row of North Korean troopers killed within the Russian metropolis of Kursk
Ukrainian officers imagine North Korea has deployed as many as 14,000 troops to the frontlines to struggle in opposition to them
A North Korean soldier held after being captured by the Ukrainian military on January 11
Ukrainian servicemen hearth a D-30 howitzer in the direction of Russian troops at a frontline place, amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia area, Ukraine January 11, 2025
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky final week claimed that Russia’s forces deployed North Korean missiles in a lethal assault on Kyiv that killed greater than a dozen individuals.
The hours-long barrage of missiles and drones on April 24 was the deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since final July.
Zelensky mentioned in a submit to X: ‘In response to preliminary info, the Russians used a ballistic missile manufactured in North Korea. Our particular companies are verifying all the main points.
‘If the data that this missile was made in North Korea is confirmed, this can be additional proof of the legal nature of the alliance between Russia and Pyongyang. They kill individuals and torment lives collectively – that’s the solely that means behind their cooperation.
‘Russia repeatedly makes use of such weapons – missiles, artillery. In return, Pyongyang obtained the chance to make its weapons extra lethal beneath actual wartime situations.’
In return for North Korea’s provide of troops and arms, Russia has given it air defence missiles, digital warfare tools, drones and know-how for spy satellite tv for pc launches, in line with the South Korean evaluation.
North Korea has additionally been receiving Russian vacationers since February 2024 amid slowly easing pandemic curbs.
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