The new road bridge over the Tumen River is being built just a few hundred meters from the existing railway bridge dating back to 1959. Near the village of Khasan, which has fewer than 500 residents, it connects the two countries. Completion is expected ahead of schedule.
In Kyiv, concern is growing that Russia could use the bridge to transport North Korean troops and weapons for its war against Ukraine. Since the start of the invasion in 2022, Moscow and Pyongyang have grown closer. In June 2024, the leaders Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed an agreement on military cooperation.
The Ukrainian human rights organization Truth Hounds doubts the project’s civilian purpose. Tourism to North Korea is severely restricted, and the trip from Moscow takes about 125 hours by car. The organization suspects the bridge is mainly intended for transporting troops and weapons, as trucks are harder to monitor by satellite than trains.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently warned that Russia could send up to 30,000 more North Korean soldiers into the war. North Korea has already deployed between 14,000 and 15,000 troops to support Russia, many of them in the Kursk region.
Source: www.dw.com
