N. Korea seeks to mend ties with China, but Pyongyang's top priority is Moscow: Seoul

All News 15:41 March 27, 2025

SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to be moving to mend relations with China, but further bolstering relations with Moscow is Pyongyang's top priority, South Korea's unification ministry assessed Thursday.

The ministry released the assessment as North Korea has elevated its ties with Russia to a new level through the signing of a mutual defense treaty between leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin and by deploying thousands of troops in support of Russia's war against Ukraine last year.

"The focus of North Korea's diplomacy is Russia," the ministry said, adding that the regime is "seeking a full range of exchanges to maximize its return from the troop deployment."

In a sign of such alignment, Kim has been using an elevated term, "comrade", when referring to President Putin since August 2023, according to the ministry.

Pyongyang now appears to be trying to mend relations with China, which have cooled due to the regime's alignment with Moscow, by seeking to resume group tours for Chinese travelers and restarting construction of a bridge over the Amnok River on its side of the shared border, the ministry assessed.

Following an agreement between North Korea and China in 2009, the two countries begun construction for a new bridge to replace an old railway bridge linking Sinuiju to China's Dandong the next year.

The bridge structure was completed in 2014, but its opening was delayed first by North Korea putting off road paving and later by border controls related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ministry said recent satellite imagery showed large-scale customs facilities under construction on the North Korean side of the bridge.

The ministry estimated the customs facilities cover around 172,500 square meters, exceeding the size of those on the Chinese side, which are about 150,000 square meters.

Despite such efforts, China's response appears lukewarm, as it has yet to resume group tours of Chinese travelers to North Korea, it noted, predicting that "it may take some time" for the bilateral relations to improve.

The ministry also assessed that North Korea is enjoying economic benefits from Russia, which it called a "Russia boon," in return for the regime's troop deployment to Russia.

Citing expert analysis, the ministry estimated that the economic benefits North Korea gains from Russia amount to about US$3 billion, accounting for around 30 percent of the regime's annual state budget.

This is insufficient to boost North Korea's entire economy, but it is enough to fund Kim's pet projects, such as the construction of hospitals, regional factories and other facilities for the public, it said.

Russia does not yet appear to have paid all the benefits to North Korea in exchange for the troop deployment, the ministry also noted.

It also added that North Korea appears to be preparing a military parade and a mass gymnastics event, inviting people and groups from friendly countries to attend, in celebration of this year's 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea on Oct. 10.