OMM Newsroom
North Korea opened a new four-lane bridge to China on Thursday, marking a further improvement in ties between the two countries. Analysts have raised concerns that the crossing could also help Pyongyang evade sanctions imposed over its nuclear programme, according to “CNN”.
The nearly two-mile New Yalu River Bridge links the Chinese border city of Dandong with Sinuiju in North Korea. Completed in 2014, it remained unused for years because roads and border facilities on the North Korean side were unfinished.
Satellite images taken earlier this month showed vehicles using the bridge. Dandong and Sinuiju are believed to account for about 70% of trade between the two countries. At Thursday’s opening ceremony, trucks decorated with national flags crossed the river.
The older Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, also in Dandong, has traditionally been the main crossing between the countries. Built in 1937, it has only one lane and can carry traffic in one direction at a time.
The opening follows a period of improving relations, including the resumption of a rail connection in March and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pyongyang in June for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Analysts say the summit suggested the two countries were restoring ties after growing more distant in recent years as North Korea moved closer to Russia. The bridge gives Beijing and Pyongyang an opportunity to demonstrate their renewed relationship and strategic alignment, Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University in South Korea, told “CNN”.
China accounts for about 95% of North Korea’s total official trade. The South Korean government has reported 17 rail and vehicle links between China and North Korea, “The Associated Press” reported.
Last month, North Korea inaugurated its first road bridge connecting the country with Russia.
Before the new bridge opened, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said it would “further promote economic and trade exchanges and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, and enhance the well-being of their peoples.”
Some analysts say the crossing could also help North Korea evade bans on exports of raw materials and other goods. Lim said Pyongyang could use it as a government-controlled gateway to circumvent UN sanctions.
Yang Mu-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said China’s approach to sanctions enforcement was partly linked to its relations with the United States.
“As relations between Washington and Beijing have become strained, China tended to take a more passive approach to enforcing sanctions,” Yang said.
