Russia, North Korea plan first regular bus route linking two countries by end of 2026

Russia and North Korea plan to launch their first regular bus service connecting Vladivostok in Russia's Far East with North Korea's Rason Special Economic Zone by the end of the year.

The new route is expected to facilitate passenger and cargo transportation between the two countries while also supporting North Korea's tourism industry, one of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's signature economic initiatives.

North Korea-focused outlet NK News reported that Yevgeny Volosatov, Russia’s acting foreign ministry representative, told Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday that the Primorsky Krai-based tour operator Vostok Intur plans to begin operating the route around the end of this year.

The tour company was selected to operate the service in May. NK News described it as a Vladivostok-based travel agency that has held a near-monopoly on North Korean tourism packages since 2024.

Analysts believe the bus route is closely tied to the completion of the Khasan–Tumangang Bridge, which is being built across the Tumen River by Russia and North Korea.

During a summit in Pyongyang in 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim signed a treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership and agreed to construct the bridge. The project was originally scheduled to be completed before June 19 of this year, the two-year anniversary of the agreement.

The bridge deck was connected in April. But delays on the Russian side have pushed back the planned mid-June opening.

Satellite images analyzed by 38 North, a U.S.-based North Korea monitoring website, show that North Korea has finished customs facilities, warehouses, parking lots, a border checkpoint and access roads.

Russia, however, has yet to complete several key buildings and parts of the connecting road network.

A design and construction contract previously signed between the Primorsky Krai government and Russian construction firm TonnelYuzhStroy calls for an 800-meter (2,625-foot), two-lane bridge measuring 10 meters wide. The bridge will be built 415 meters downstream from the existing Tumen River railway bridge.

Given that the project is reportedly due to be completed in December 2026, experts expect the bridge to open no later than the end of the year.

The completion of the road bridge is expected to significantly strengthen logistics and transportation links between the two countries.

At the moment, travel and trade between the two countries rely primarily on rail and air transport

Freight transport relies heavily on the aging 231-kilometer (143.5-mile) rail line between Khasan and Baranovsky, where deteriorating infrastructure has significantly slowed transit.

Air travel is similarly constrained. Air Koryo, North Korea's state-run airline, operates only a small fleet, most of which consists of aging aircraft that are difficult to keep in regular service. The upcoming bridge could provide an alternative solution as the first direct road link for vehicles.

"If vehicles begin crossing the bridge after it opens, cargo shipments and passenger traffic between the two countries will increase dramatically," Jung You-suk, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said. "The bridge will become key infrastructure not only for North Korea's tourism industry but also for strengthening exchanges and cooperation between North Korea and Russia."

BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO [[email protected]]