An unannounced arrival across a new bridge
Kim Jong-un has reached China by crossing the New Yalu River Bridge, a structure that opened only in mid-October, according to a South Korean government source who spoke to the Yonhap news agency. The North Korean leader is said to have taken a train from Pyongyang to Sinuiju before continuing over the roughly 3km span into Dandong, a city in Liaoning province. Neither capital had confirmed the journey by Saturday evening, and no advance notice was given.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7][S8]
Yonhap also reported that Chinese Premier Li Qiang had made the trip to Dandong. Japan's Kyodo news agency said traffic restrictions were put in place around the bridge and close to a museum dedicated to China's part in the Korean war, while hotel reservations in the area were limited. Diplomatic sources cited by Kyodo tied those measures to a visit by a senior North Korean figure.[S1]
Timing tied to war anniversary and regional diplomacy
The crossing coincides with Sunday's anniversary of China's 1950 entry into the Korean war on North Korea's side. The bridge itself had been finished by China twelve years before it opened in mid-October, with hold-ups on the North Korean side delaying its use. Early in September, North Korea and Russia inaugurated the first road bridge over their shared short border, giving Pyongyang road connections to both of its principal backers.[S1]
This is Kim's sixth journey to China and his first since September 2025, when he watched a military parade in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Xi travelled to Pyongyang in June, his first visit there in seven years. Ties with South Korea have meanwhile soured: Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, has put out roughly 10 statements criticising Seoul since late September, a pace the South's unification ministry has described as unusual, and has said loudspeaker broadcasts at the border would resume within days.[S1]
Speculation about a possible Kim-Trump meeting has been fueled by the fact that Xi will chair the Apec summit in Shenzhen on 18-19 November. However, Reuters reported on Friday that officials in Washington and Seoul consider a Kim-Trump meeting unlikely to happen before the end of the year.[S1]
