(5th LD) N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits China, meets senior official amid ties push

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un entered China through a recently opened bridge, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency on Saturday. The four-lane New Yalu River Bridge in Dandong, China, was completed in 2014 but sat idle for a decade due to insufficient road links and customs facilities on the North Korean side. The bridge officially inaugurated about a week ago, symbolizing efforts to enhance economic cooperation between the neighboring nations.

As China holds the status of North Korea's largest trading partner and a crucial provider of diplomatic, economic, and political assistance to the isolated, nuclear-armed country, despite occasionally turbulent relations, the bridge's opening is seen as a significant step forward. The New Yalu River Bridge came into existence just a month after North Korea and Russia inaugurated their first road bridge, which Pyongyang viewed as evidence of deepening connections.

Analysts suggest that trade between North Korea and China may offer goods essential for the development of the country's civilian economy, given that North Korea's trade with Russia predominantly consists of military supplies.