North Korea, Russia to open passenger train service next month

North Korea and Russia will begin operating a new passenger train service between Vladivostok in Russia’s Primorsky Krai and North Korea’s Rason early next month.

The two countries are also accelerating preparations to build a new automobile bridge across their shared border — a development raising concerns that Moscow may be laying the groundwork to provide more tangible benefits in return for North Korean military support.

Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported on Thursday that regional authorities in Primorsky Krai had announced the new train service.

“Russian tourists will be able to visit the monument for Soviet soldiers who died during Korea’s 1945 liberation from Japan, one day before Russia’s Victory Day,” the TASS report reads. “This new international tourist train is very important for Primorsky Krai.”

The rollout comes as speculation mounts that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may personally attend Victory Day celebrations — which commemorate the end of World War II in Europe — on May 9. Russia appears to be promoting its ties with Pyongyang ahead of the occasion.

Earlier, Vostok Intur, a Russia-based travel agency that organizes trips to North Korea, announced that the train would operate four times this year: beginning May 8 and again in July, August and October. The July departure will be scheduled for July 26, coinciding with North Korea’s own Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War — observed on July 27 to mark the signing of the armistice ending the Korean War (1950-53).

North Korea is also exploring ways to fully reopen its borders to attract international tourists, including for Western visitors. The country recently held the Pyongyang International Marathon for the first time in six years. The new passenger train is seen as part of a broader initiative to revive the tourism sector, long regarded as one of Kim’s economic priorities.

At the Tumen River, which marks the border between the two countries, preparations are also advancing for a new road bridge that Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to build during their summit in Pyongyang last June.

Beyond Parallel, a North Korea-focused research website operated by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, analyzed satellite imagery of the construction site taken in February and March. It reported that the Russian shore has been “cleared of trees and shrubs” while North Korea has a “new small concrete batch plant.” The report also observed a “temporary pontoon-mounted construction platform,” adding that they were “temporarily installed as mobile work platforms, allowing equipment and personnel to operate over water.”

If the new rail service and bridge are completed, human and material exchanges between the two countries are likely to increase significantly. North Korea, which has reportedly sent more than 14,000 troops and supplied artillery shells and ballistic missiles to Russia since last year, may soon begin receiving more substantial compensation.

Meanwhile, negotiations to end the war in Ukraine remain deadlocked, despite former U.S. President Donald Trump’s earlier assertions that he could bring about a swift resolution. Putin has continued to escalate attacks without responding to U.S.-backed ceasefire proposals.

Amid this impasse, Ukrainian officials claim that North Korean troops deployed to Russia may soon enter Ukrainian territory. On Wednesday, Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, said via Telegram that “Russia plans to use North Korean troops in the war on Ukrainian soil.”

He suggested that Moscow might justify the deployment by claiming the soldiers had been sent to “Russian territory according to the constitution.”

Until now, North Korean troops are believed to have conducted operations primarily in the Russian-occupied region of Kursk. Combined Russian and North Korean forces have focused their firepower there, and experts say efforts to retake the area are nearing completion.

Ukrainian analysts warn that the next phase could involve deploying North Korean troops deeper into Ukraine. Some observers say Kim may be seeking greater compensation from Russia by deepening his country’s involvement in the war.

The British Ministry of Defence said in a recent report that, as of last month, over 5,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in the war, estimating that one-third of those casualties were fatalities.

BY PARK HYUN-JU [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]