North Korea, Russia Building Road Link 05/01 06:12

   

   SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea and Russia have begun building their 
first road link, the two countries announced, hailing the construction of a 
bridge over a border river as a major development that will further expand 
their booming ties.

   Russia's Tass news agency reported that the bridge would be 1 kilometer (0.6 
mile) long and its construction is expected to take 1  years. North Korea's 
Korean Central News Agency said Thursday the bridge would expand cross-border 
travel of people, tourism and circulation of commodities.

   Relations and exchange programs between the two countries have been 
flourishing in recent years, with North Korea supplying ammunitions and troops 
to support Russia's war against Ukraine.

   North Korea has been receiving Russian tourists since February 2024 amid 
slowly easing pandemic curbs, but Chinese group tours, which made up more than 
90% of visitors before the pandemic, remain stalled.

   In 2023, about 97% of North Korea's external trade was with China, while 
1.2% was with Russia. There are currently at least 17 active road and rail 
links across the long, porous border between North Korea and China, according 
to South Korea's Unification Ministry.

   One railway bridge and air service already connect North Korea and Russia, 
and in June 2024 the two countries agreed to construct a bridge for automobiles 
over the Tumen River, which runs along North Korea's borders with Russia and 
China.

   On Thursday, North Korea and Russia simultaneously held a ground-breaking 
ceremony for the bridge's construction in their respective border cities, 
according to the two countries' state media agencies. The agencies said North 
Korean Premier Pak Thae Song and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin 
attended the ceremony via video links.

   Pak said the bridge's construction would be remembered as "a historic 
monument" in bilateral ties, KCNA reported Thursday.

   "This is a big milestone for Russian-Korean relation," Russian Prime 
Minister Mikhail Mishustin said, according to Tass. "We are creating a reliable 
basis for closer cooperation between our two countries, a road for an open and 
fruitful dialogue."

   On Monday, North Korea confirmed for the first time that it has sent combat 
troops to Russia to help it reclaim parts of the Kursk region that Ukraine 
forces seized in a stunning incursion last year. Russian President Vladimir 
Putin thanked North Korea and promised not to forget the sacrifices of North 
Korean soldiers for Russia.

   According to a South Korean government intelligence assessment shared with 
lawmakers on Wednesday, North Korea has sent about 15,000 soldiers to Russia, 
and 4,700 of them have been killed or wounded. In return for North Korea's 
supply of conventional arms, Russia has given it air defense missiles, 
electronic warfare equipment, drones and technology for spy satellite launches, 
according to the South Korean assessment.