Russia-North Korea train resumes, stirring laborer and soldier transfer speculation

The regular passenger train service between Russia and North Korea, which had been suspended for nearly four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resumed on December 16, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Irina Kulchitskaya, a spokesperson for the Ussuri customs office in Russia’s Far East, confirmed that the cross-border railway service between the two countries had officially restarted.

“At 3 p.m. local time (8 a.m. Moscow time), customs officers at the Khasan railway checkpoint, located near the Russia-North Korea border, authorized the departure of a passenger train bound for North Korea,” Kulchitskaya stated. She added that two Russian nationals were on board the train.

RIA Novosti also released a video showing the train, consisting of one locomotive and a single passenger car, moving along the tracks.

TASS news agency reported that the train departed Khasan station at 3:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. Moscow time) en route to North Korea’s Tumangang station, according to the Far Eastern Railway Authority.

The Russian state railway company had previously announced on December 10 that the Khasan-Tumangang railway route would resume operations on December 16, with three weekly trips scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Train services between the two countries had been operating on an irregular basis since June under North Korea’s initiative, with an estimated 1,200 passengers using the route during that period.

U.S.-based North Korea analysis platform NK News highlighted that the resumption of the passenger train service could facilitate the deployment of North Korean laborers to Russia, a move that could provide Pyongyang with much-needed foreign currency. NK News also speculated that North Korean military personnel and artillery units could be transported via the Russian railway to the frontlines of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

This development follows Russia’s decision to resume passenger train services with China, which were also suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. On December 15, a train carrying 69 Chinese tourists departed from Suifenhe in Heilongjiang Province, China, and arrived in Grodekovo, Russia, signaling the revival of cross-border travel between the two countries.

BY YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]