South Korea’s central bank estimated in July that North Korea’s economy grew more than three per cent for a third straight year in 2025, citing it’s expansion of economic cooperation with Russia as a “major drive”.
The bank’s official said North Korea’s gross national income also “received a boost from a sharp rise in foreign currency earnings” linked to the deployment of its troops to Russia.
BEIJING-MOSCOW-PYONGYANG BLOC
North Korean official Pak Thae Song, according the official KCNA news agency, said “the completion of the bridge is a significant event adding a new dynamic movement to the overall bilateral cooperation”.
North Korea and China are already connected by the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, which is regularly used by passenger trains, but its capacity is limited.
After a long halt, the bridge partly reopened and restored daily passenger train services with China early this year, but has not yet resumed issuing tourism visas to Chinese citizens, who once made up the bulk of its overseas visitors.
North Korea has long kept tight control over foreign visitors, and effectively sealed its borders at the start of the pandemic six years ago.
The New Yalu River Bridge, intended as an alternative and eventual replacement of the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, is expected by experts to be completed this year.
The completion of the bridge “sends a political and geopolitical message demonstrating the formation of a North Korea-China-Russia continental triangular bloc”, said Lim.
