![Two buses departing from Sinuiju, North Korea, on the morning of August 16, 2023, cross the Yalu River Bridge—known in China as the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge—heading toward Dandong, Liaoning Province, in the China-North Korea border region. [YONHAP]](https://www.koreadailyus.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/0715-train.jpg)
Pyongyang-Beijing train service may soon resume as North Korea released a new schedule for international rail routes, including those connecting its capital with Beijing, Dandong, and Moscow. The timetable was posted on July 16 by North Korea’s National Tourism Administration on its official tourism website, Joseon Tourism.
The website’s “International Train Timetable” section lists round-trip services between Pyongyang and Beijing, departing from Pyongyang every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 10:25 a.m. The train travels through Dandong and Shenyang before arriving in Beijing. Return trips from Beijing follow the same route and depart at 5:27 p.m. on the same days.
Currently, however, only the Pyongyang-Moscow direct train is operational. Passenger services between North Korea and China have yet to resume. If restarted, the Pyongyang-Beijing route would mark the end of a 5-year, 6-month suspension first imposed in January 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japanese broadcaster NHK recently reported that North Korea and China had agreed to resume the Pyongyang-Beijing train service. Citing multiple sources, NHK said the service could restart as early as August.
In addition to the train timetable, the Joseon Tourism website also published a flight schedule for round-trip air service between Pyongyang and Shanghai. Flight JS157 is scheduled to depart Pyongyang at 10:10 p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays, arriving in Shanghai at 11:30 p.m. Return flights (JS158) leave Shanghai at 12:30 a.m. on Mondays and Fridays and land in Pyongyang at 3:50 a.m.
North Korea has resumed flights to Beijing since 2023, but service to Shanghai has yet to formally restart. The new schedule, if implemented, would reintroduce a twice-weekly regular route that has operated only sporadically in recent years.
Though North Korea’s ties with Russia have grown stronger in recent years, relations with China had cooled. However, recent signs point to renewed diplomatic engagement. In July, both countries celebrated the 64th anniversary of their mutual friendship treaty with official events in Pyongyang and Beijing, reflecting improved ties.
If the Pyongyang-Beijing train service resumes and the Shanghai air route becomes operational, analysts expect a significant increase in cross-border travel. This would likely accelerate the broader normalization of North Korea-China relations.
BY JANG GUSEUL [jang.guseul@joongang.co.kr]
