Across the Tumen River, where Cold War alliances were once sealed in steel and ideology, Russia and North Korea have now laid asphalt — opening their first road bridge in September 2026 and giving physical form to a partnership that has grown far beyond its Soviet origins. Named for a Red Army officer said to have saved Kim Il Sung's life, the crossing was built in under two years following Putin's 2024 visit to Pyongyang, and arrives at a moment when North Korean troops have already fought alongside Russian forces in Kursk. What officials describe as a corridor for trade and tourism is, in th