Russia and North Korea opened the first road bridge across their shared border Monday, a development that both countries hailed as boosting their deepening ties.

The bridge over the Tumen River is 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) long and has two lanes and will allow up to 300 vehicles a day to pass through a newly built border crossing point, the Russian government said in a statement.

The bridge links North Korea’s Rason and Russia’s Khasan, border cities of the two countries. The bridge’s inauguration ceremony took place simultaneously in the two cities, with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song attending via video link.

“I am convinced that the expansion of transport infrastructure near the border will give a powerful boost to the further development of trade, economic, technological, scientific and cultural cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Mishustin said.

Pak said the bridge’s completion is “a significant event adding a new dynamic movement to the overall bilateral cooperation,” according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Relations and exchange programs between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing, with North Korea supplying ammunition and troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance.

North Korea has been receiving Russian tourists since February 2024 amid slowly easing pandemic curbs. KCNA said the bridge’s opening would promote tourism, human exchange and commodity circulation between the two countries.

North Korea and Russia, which are already served by a railway bridge and air service, agreed in 2024 to construct a bridge for automobiles over the Tumen River, which runs along North Korea’s borders with Russia and China. Construction began last year.

The Associated Press