A GHOST bridge that has stood unfinished for more than a decade between China and North Korea could finally be nearing completion.
The over pass stood abandoned for so long that farmers used the road to dry crops.
AlamyA view of the bridge from Dandong in April 2025, located on the Chinese side of the Yalu River, shows where the bridge links the two nations.[/caption]
GettyThe two-mile-long bridge waited for North Korean construction for five years[/caption]
The bridge – which was completely funded by China – was completed on the Chinese side in 2014, costing the nation $350 million.
China went all out on the project, developing a new city at its end of the road.
Despite Chinese productivity and complete financial aid on the project, the North Korean end remained untouched until 2019, leaving apartment complexes, stores and more lying vacant on the Chinese side.
The cash-strapped nation only needed to build about two miles of road to complete the inter-country link.
The incomplete over pass opened into a paddy field on North Korea’s side of the river, as neither side lifted a finger to complete the project, rendering the link between nations a bridge to nowhere for five more years.
Meanwhile, in downtown Dandong, on the Chinese side, buses and trucks have been forced to wait for hours to get across the original link between the two nations – the Old Friendship Bridge.
The Old Friendship Bridge was constructed in the late 1930s and was originally named the Sino-Korean Friendship bridge.
The US bombed the Friendship Bridge during the Korean War to stop Chinese forces from interfering and aiding North Korea.
The connecting road was patched up after fighting stopped, and still serves as a link between Beijing and Pyongyang to this day.
The narrow road and rail bridge connecting the downtown areas of Sinuiju and Dandong has been the busiest border port between the two nations over recent years, as bilateral trade has increased.
However, the new signs of construction on the New Yalu River Bridge signal that China and North Korea are preparing to boost trade.
North Korea embodied the full meaning of a hermit when it shut its doors to the outside world during the Covid pandemic.
Since the border closure eased in 2023, both nations have kept up appearances and increased trade and business exchanges.
Despite North Korea previously shutting its borders, the work on the bridge had largely been completed.
Construction on the Kim Jong Un’s side began in February 2020, but was halted the following August, after digging work took place across around 111 acres (45 hectares) of land.
Following the border closure, satellite imagery showed farmers making use of the unfrequented road by drying crops on the tar.
GettyThe construction of the new bridge over Yalu River, connecting Dandong and Sinuiju has restarted[/caption]
GoogleFarmers used the empty road to dry crops[/caption]
Since hesitantly opening back up, the nation has also shown signs of strengthening its international relationships.
Despite this, uncertainty still bubbles below the surface, as North Korea has openly prioritised strengthening its relationship with Moscow.
Signalling the shift in international relations, tourism into the notoriously closed-off nation resumed with Russia, where it has not with China.
Fresh construction on the bridge is the latest signal of North Korea realigning to its closest neighbour.
Building has resumed on the North Korean side of the New Yalu River Bridge, marking the first movement on the development in five years.
New images from Planet Labs of the notoriously unopened bridge surfaced, showing evidence of new excavation.
Blue-roofed structures also popped up, believed to be related to long-term construction plans on the site.
NK News reported the size of the development could link it to a plan by Chinese company Five Continents International Development Corporation (FCIDC) to construct an economic park in North Korea’s Sinuiju region.
The exact location of this project, however, has not been confirmed.
The new construction on the bridge could be in preparation to connect to a planned large customs complex to match one built on the Chinese side of the bridge.
In 2018, FCIDC suggested that the Sinuiju “Heyuan” International Logistics and Trade City (SILTC) would be located close to a border connection point.
A spokesperson said the economic park would have: “its own customs and border inspection, where transit goods can directly enter … avoiding the congestion of Dandong-Sinuiju Port … and greatly improving cargo flow.”
Wang Ruoming, one of the lead project coordinators based in China, fuelled the rumours earlier in the year with a social media post hinted at the project’s revival.
He reposted a computer rendering of the economic park on his Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) profile in January, saying: “2025 is destined to be a year of good fortune”.
The New Yalu River Bridge features a four-lane road, while China’s sprawling new customs port appears ready to handle dozens of cargo trucks at a time.
The border between North Korea and China runs in the direct centre of the river.
North Korea and China
China and North Korea have been closely aligned since the end of the Korean War.
China remains North Korea’s only formal political alliance, with Beijing being the nation’s biggest aid provider and trading partner, which has been hit by crippling- and isolating – Western sanctions.
Leaders Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping have appeared together at numerous events over the last year, signalling the continuation of their close relationship.
Experts believe President Xi is attempting to form a super-group of the West’s greatest rivals with Russia and North Korea.
Dubbed the Axis of Evil, the trio of leaders made a big show of friendship in September, when they all walked together at a military parade in China.
Kim was also the first North Korean to attend a Chinese military parade in 66 years.
China continues to impose itself as the fastest growing superpower both Russia and North Korea are trying their best to follow suit.
The partnership between the three nations has been further embodied by the strengthening in relations between Pyongyang and Moscow.
Putin and Kim held a 90-minute meeting in Beijing to discuss their great relationship.