Entry past the mid-point of the old Tumen Bridge is cordoned off. Tourists can walk up to the point shown in the photo but no further.
In mid-August, an ASIAPRESS reporting partner in China visited the bridge connecting China and North Korea in Tumen, in China’s China's Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Tumen sits across the Tumen River from the Namyang Laborer District, which is in Onsong County, North Hamgyung Province. Following the gradual loosening of the COVID-19 border lockdown, vehicles have crossed back and forth trade routes connecting North Korea and China; however, there were no signs of a restart of trade between the Tumen-Namyang route. The reporting partner only saw a large number of tourists enjoying the sights along the border. (PARK Song-mun / ISHIMARU Jiro)
※ The photographs published here were taken by an ASIAPRESS reporting partner in China in mid-August 2023.
Tumen is home to the only ferry service operated on the Tumen River. South Koreans, however, are not allowed to take the ferry. The green bridge in the distance is the newly built International Liaison Bridge.
The North Korean authorities have built barbed wire fencing to make it impossible for people to come to the banks of the Tumen River. The apartments seen from the Chinese side of the border have been built with nice exteriors.
The bridge to the left is the old Tumen Bridge built during the Japanese occupation period. Tourists can walk to the mid-point of the bridge, but South Koreans are not allowed on it. Construction on the bridge to the right started in 2014 and was recently completed. The bridge has four lanes and looks tidy. As of mid-August, there has not been a restart of goods or people traffic over the bridge.
The midpoint of the new bridge has been cordoned off, which makes it impossible to cross. The building with the blue roof in the distance is a newly built customs house.
A building in Namyang Laborer District as seen from the old Tumen Bridge. Portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il had been removed at one point but have again been put up.
＜Photo Report＞ The North Korea-China Border (2) Reminiscent of a disputed area, barbed wire fencing surrounds the Tumen River and Hoeryong-Samhap area…Barriers make it hard to defect or smuggle across the border
＜Photo Report＞ The North Korea-China Border (3) The bridge connecting Hoeryong-Samhap with no vehicular or human traffic in sight
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- ＜Photo Report＞ A visit to a North Korea-China trade hub…Freight trucks line up to head into North Korea, but drivers not allowed to leave vehicles
