The New Yalu River Bridge, completed in 2014, is poised to open after 12 years. The most likely timing currently being discussed is around October 6, the 77th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between North Korea and China. Recently, the normalization of border crossings and the resumption of rail and road services have continued along the North Korea–China border, making the bridge’s opening itself hardly unusual. What warrants closer attention, rather, is why the bridge did not open in 2014 and why North Korea began work to connect it to its road network in late 2019. The 12-year history of the New Yalu River Bridge is difficult to explain solely in terms of the ups and downs in North Korea–China relations.
