Chinese truck drivers who made pocket money ferrying parcels into North Korea are souring on the New Yalu River Bridge. Since the bridge opened in October 2026, tighter customs checks and movement controls have squeezed the side income they relied on.
The new bridge links Dandong in China’s Liaoning province with Sinuiju in North Pyongan province, and it has greatly improved conditions for hauling cargo between the two cities. However, customs officers on both sides now inspect vehicles far more strictly than on the older Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge. As a result, earning extra cash by carrying personal goods has become nearly impossible for drivers.
“Drivers used to bring a few unauthorized goods on every trip into North Korea to earn extra money,” a source in China told Daily NK on Wednesday. “Now that they’re using the newly opened New Yalu River Bridge, that has become difficult.”
For years, drivers hauling licensed freight between the two countries tucked small amounts of unregistered goods into their trucks. In return, they collected a delivery fee from small-scale traders who needed merchandise moved across the border. The informal arrangement worked as a cheap courier service for traders trying to avoid steep shipping costs between Dandong and Sinuiju.
Cigarette runs end at the New Yalu River Bridge
Cigarettes were the most common item that drivers carried in these parcels. Even when nobody had asked them, drivers picked up North Korean cigarettes and resold them to Chinese merchants. North Korean brands have a steady following among Chinese buyers, despite repeated Chinese crackdowns on unlicensed cigarette sales.
“Before, drivers brought back at least a box of cigarettes, about 50 cartons, from every trip,” the source said. “Now inspections are so strict that anything over the usual two-carton allowance is confiscated and fined, so nobody dares try.”
Drivers also face tight restrictions once they cross into North Korea. They cannot move freely beyond designated areas, and their contact with North Korean locals is heavily limited. That leaves little room for the private deals with North Korean smugglers that once padded their earnings.
According to the source, drivers now commonly complain that crossing into North Korea is no longer any fun.
“Both China and North Korea inspect cargo meticulously, and inside North Korea it’s harder than before to get around or meet people,” the source said. “The new bridge has made the road better, but losing their small side earnings seems to matter more to the drivers.”
Meanwhile, North Korean trucks expected to start hauling cargo across the bridge this month have yet to begin operating. Daily NK previously reported that North Korean transport officials were vetting Chinese partners and delivery routes ahead of a planned November start. So far, however, North Korean trucks are still missing from the bridge.
For now, the bridge has upgraded logistics infrastructure without delivering a noticeable expansion of North Korea-China trade. That trade remains constrained by U.N. Security Council sanctions that ban many of the country’s key exports. The squeeze on drivers’ informal earnings has also fueled skepticism in China about what the opening will actually deliver. It remains to be seen whether the tighter controls are a temporary clampdown or a lasting policy.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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