China, North Korea open New Yalu River Bridge 12 years after its completion
The four-lane bridge linking Dandong and Sinuiju opens with a joint ceremony, a sign of warming ties between Beijing and Pyongyang.
Photo: Ajew / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
China and North Korea open the New Yalu River Bridge on Thursday, Oct. 15, with a joint ceremony, China's Xinhua news agency reported. The four-lane, 3,026-meter bridge links China's Dandong with North Korea's Sinuiju. China completed its side in 2014, but North Korea left its section unfinished for years after relations soured over Beijing's support for U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear tests. Until now, overland freight between the cities used the Friendship Bridge built in 1943.
China estimates the crossing can handle up to 20,000 vehicles and 50,000 passengers a day. Bilateral trade reached about $1.51 billion in the first half of 2026, up 19.6% from a year earlier. Ties have warmed markedly: Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang in June, and passenger rail service resumed in March after six years. South Korean analyst Lim Eul-chul said the bridge will ease trade bottlenecks but "is likely to entrench the Kim Jong-un government's 'two hostile states' doctrine over the long term," potentially slowing inter-Korean reconciliation.