KOR
▲ The ground-breaking ceremony for the North Korea-Russia road bridge connecting the two countries across the Tumen River is held simultaneously in Rason, North Korea, and Khasan, Russia, on April 30, 2025, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency the next day.
The bridge over the Tumen River connecting North Korea and Russia is set to be named after a Soviet military officer who prevented an assassination attempt on Kim Il-sung.
Russian Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin told TASS on the 3rd local time during the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) currently underway in Vladivostok, "The road bridge connecting Russia and North Korea, along with the Khasan border checkpoint, will soon open."
He added, "We proposed naming the bridge after Yakov Novichenko, a Soviet military officer and national hero of North Korea who used his body to block a grenade during an assassination attempt on Kim Il-sung in 1946, and the proposal received support."
Minister Nikitin stated that Novichenko's bereaved family members plan to attend the bridge's opening ceremony.
In 1946, Novichenko blocked a grenade thrown toward then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung during a March 1st Independence Movement commemoration event at Pyongyang Station, suffering severe injuries and losing his right hand.
During his official visit to the Soviet Union in 1984, leader Kim met Novichenko again and later invited him to North Korea, conferring upon him the title of Hero of Labor.
Novichenko passed away in 1996, two years after Kim's death.
Minister Nikitin added that the bridge will establish a direct road transportation network between the two countries, which is expected to optimize logistics, boost bilateral trade, and reduce corporate transportation costs.
Until now, the only crossing at the North Korea-Russia border has been the Tumen River railway bridge connecting Tumangang Station and Khasan Station by train, making vehicular travel impossible.
The construction of the new Tumen River road bridge was an agreement reached during the North Korea-Russia summit held in Pyongyang in June 2024, and construction began near the existing Tumen River railway bridge in April of last year.
The Russian government stated during the bridge connection ceremony in April that it was scheduled for completion on June 19, but it was not finished on schedule.
(Photo: Korean Central News Agency, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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