Kim Jong Un Crosses The New Yalu River Bridge Into China

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday, October 24, crossing the newly opened New Yalu River Bridge, according to a South Korean government official who spoke on condition of anonymity. China’s Xinhua news agency reported the visit: Kim was accompanied by Wang Huning, China’s fourth-highest-ranked official, who conveyed greetings from President Xi Jinping. Chinese state television footage showed Kim walking on the bridge, which was lined by people waving flags.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that Premier Li Qiang met Kim in Dandong, and a second South Korean official told Reuters the same — but neither government has confirmed the meeting. A South Korean official said it was unlikely Kim would visit Beijing ahead of high-level Communist Party meetings starting on Monday, and Yonhap said Kim was expected to return to North Korea after Saturday’s visit.

The timing carries its own message. The visit comes a day before the anniversary of China joining the 1950–1953 Korean War, on October 25, and it is read as highlighting a push to expand trade ties between the two countries.

The bridge itself is the story underneath the visit. China and North Korea opened the New Yalu River Bridge this month, on October 15 — a 3-kilometer (2-mile) crossing, and their most significant land border link. Construction was finished in 2014, but the opening was delayed for years by strained ties and pandemic disruptions. The bridge links Dandong, in Liaoning province, to Sinuiju in North Korea, and is expected to help move the heavy equipment, raw materials and energy products North Korea needs.

“The opening of the bridge has resolved a major bottleneck in China-North Korea trade logistics. With the logistics constraint eased, bilateral trade is likely to increase further,” said Lu Chao, a specialist on China–North Korea relations at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

The format was as notable as the fact of the visit. This was not a state visit to Beijing: Kim crossed into the border city, was seen on the bridge itself, and was expected home the same day, with a South Korean official judging a Beijing trip unlikely before the Communist Party meetings that begin Monday. Most of the operational detail available on Saturday — the arrival, the reported Li Qiang meeting, the expected return — came from South Korean officials speaking anonymously, because neither Beijing nor Pyongyang issued a full account.

Neither capital had much to say officially. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and South Korea’s Unification Ministry had no immediate comment.

China remains North Korea’s main economic and diplomatic backer and accounts for most of its official trade. The two leaders have held two summits in the past 13 months: Kim’s last known visit to China was in September 2025, for the 80th Victory Day celebrations in Beijing, where he held a summit with Xi, and Xi made a state visit to North Korea in June 2026. Analysts note that North Korea’s deepening military ties with Russia since 2022 raise the question of whether Pyongyang is becoming less reliant on Beijing — which makes a Saturday spent walking a new bridge with China’s fourth-ranked official a deliberate picture.

Sources: Reuters; Xinhua; Yonhap.