By Brenda Goh
SEOUL, Sept 9 (Reuters) - North Korea is completing work on its section of the long-stalled New Yalu River bridge with China, suggesting an imminent opening after more than a decade of delays, a South Korean analytics firm said on Wednesday.
The work follows Beijing's efforts since late 2025 to draw Pyongyang back into its fold after the COVID-19 pandemic froze exchanges and ruler Kim Jong Un strengthened ties with Moscow by sending troops and weapons to support Russia's war in Ukraine.
Structural work on a customs and immigration facility on the North Korean side of the 3-km (2-mile) -long bridge will be nearly complete early in September, said SI Analytics, a company that processes satellite images.
"Utilising its signature 'speed battle' tactical campaign, North Korea has effectively executed in just four months a project that had been stalled for 12 years," it said in a report that analysed satellite images of the area.
It also pointed to final signs of completion, such as road paving, perimeter landscaping and the removal of auxiliary support buildings.
There was no immediate response to Reuters fax and email messages seeking comment from North Korean and Chinese officials.
LARGE BORDER GATEWAY
North Korea has built a large border gateway at its entry to the bridge, SI Analytics added, emblazoned with its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, beside a large national flag.
China completed the dual-carriageway bridge in 2014 intended to link free trade zones in its northeastern city of Dandong with the North Korean city of Sinuiju.
The bridge had been intended to symbolise a new era in ties between the neighbours as part of Beijing's efforts to coax Pyongyang into cautious, export-oriented economic reforms.
But fraying ties over Pyongyang's continued nuclear tests saw the North leave its side of the bridge unfinished, to terminate abruptly in a field.
Amid the new thaw in ties, work on the bridge has resumed after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited North Korea in June, and the neighbours have resumed passenger train services and direct flights between their capitals.
In May, road markings reading “Truck Entry Lane” and “Passenger Vehicle Entry Lane” were painted on to the Chinese side of the unopened new bridge, satellite images showed.
NORTH KOREA, RUSSIA OPEN FIRST ROAD LINK
On Monday, North Korea and Russia opened their first road bridge, portrayed as an important milestone in a deepening strategic partnership.
Along with the New Yalu River Bridge, the event "signifies that North Korea has established major new transport networks connecting to the continent on both its eastern and western flanks," SI Analytics added.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
