The crossing over the Tumen River is named after a Soviet officer credited with shielding Kim Il Sung from a grenade in 1946
Russia and North Korea have opened the first road bridge between the two countries. The two-lane crossing over the Tumen River is about 1 kilometre long, and both governments have presented it as a milestone in their deepening strategic partnership.
Flag-decked trucks rolled across the bridge on Monday, September 7, while Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song addressed workers and officials from both sides by video link. The bridge crosses the border from Russia’s Primorsky region.
According to a Russian government statement, the crossing will handle up to 300 vehicles a day through a newly built border checkpoint. Freight traffic begins immediately. The bridge is due to become fully operational by the end of the year, when it will also open to passengers.
Mishustin described the opening as “a genuinely historic event” and called the bridge a new symbol of friendship rather than just an engineering project. He said expanding infrastructure along the border would give “a powerful boost” to trade, economic, technological, scientific and cultural cooperation. He also said the bridge would be connected to Russia’s federal road network. Pak said the bridge would further strengthen cooperation between the two nations, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
Planks on a railway bridge
Until now, the only permanent land link between the two countries was a railway. The Friendship Bridge rail link was commissioned in 1959, after the Korean War, and for decades was the only crossing point on the border. Since 1959, under a special arrangement, planks had been laid across the rail bridge so that vehicles could be moved from one side to the other.
Other transport links have also expanded recently. Russia’s Nordwind Airlines launched direct flights between Moscow and Pyongyang in July 2025, planned at once a month. Tourist trains also run between Vladivostok and the North Korean port of Rajin, according to Russia’s Transport Ministry.
The bridge had been discussed for years. Moscow and Pyongyang agreed on it during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea in 2024, and construction started in April 2025. Including approach roads, the crossing is almost 5 km long. The ministry said construction used more than 5,000 tonnes of steel structures and over 9,000 cubic metres of concrete.
The officer on the grenade
The bridge is named after Yakov Novichenko, a Red Army officer. According to Russia’s Transport Ministry, on March 1, 1946, at a rally in Pyongyang, Novichenko foiled an attempt on the life of Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founding leader. He was later made a Hero of Labour of North Korea.
The Korea JoongAng Daily reports that the rally was held near Pyongyang Station to mark the anniversary of the March First independence movement. When a grenade was thrown towards the platform where Kim was speaking, Novichenko caught it. Unable to throw it clear of the crowd, he covered it with his body. A book tucked inside his coat took part of the blast and saved his life, but he lost his right hand and suffered eye injuries. According to the same newspaper, Moscow proposed naming the bridge after Novichenko, and Pyongyang agreed.
The opening ceremony reflected that story. According to Primorsky Governor Oleg Kozhemyako, the Russian convoy was led by a restored 1980 ZAZ-968M Zaporozhets that had belonged to Novichenko, driven by his grandson Nikolai Shcherbitsky. Novichenko’s daughter, Tatyana Shcherbitskaya, also attended.
Closer ties
Cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang has accelerated lately. North Korea sent troops to Russia’s Kursk region to help repel a Ukrainian incursion in 2024. In his speech on Monday, Mishustin referred to Korean soldiers who had recently fought alongside Russian troops. North Korea has also been receiving Russian tourists since February 2024.
