China opens Yalu River border bridge to North Korea 12 years after completion

Chinese state television announced on Wednesday that the new Yalu River Bridge will open this week, linking the border city of Dandong in northeast China with North Korea, 12 years after its construction was completed.

The bridge is 3,026 meters long and has four lanes. It was completed in 2014 but its opening was postponed for years due to logistical problems on the North Korean side, including the absence of connecting roads and customs facilities, according to South Korean media reports.

The bridge was designed to replace the 'China–Korea Friendship Bridge,' which was regularly used for passenger trains but has limited capacity, reflecting a desire to expand overland connectivity between the two countries.

China is North Korea's largest trading partner and a vital source of diplomatic, economic and political support for the nuclear-armed state, and the bridge's opening is seen as a sign of deepening economic ties between Beijing and Pyongyang.

However, North Korea has not yet resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals, who previously made up the majority of its foreign visitors.

The opening of the Yalu River Bridge comes more than a month after the inauguration of the first land bridge linking North Korea and Russia, a step Pyongyang welcomed as further evidence of its growing closeness with its allies.