China's State Post Bureau said on the 10th that the overland postal transport route connecting Sinuiju in North Korea and Dandong in Liaoning province, China, was officially reopened last month.
The State Post Bureau said in a social media notice that "on Sept. 25, with cooperation from the institutional sectors of both governments, the China–Joseon (North Korea) border overland transport postal route (Dandong–Sinuiju) was formally reopened." It added, "This reopening will provide more convenience for the exchange of mail between the peoples of the two countries."
The Sinuiju–Dandong section across the Yalu River is a key corridor for human and material exchanges between North Korea and China. However, after the spread of COVID-19, North Korea completely sealed its border in early 2020, halting traffic, and the New Yalu River Bridge, built to expand overland trade, has still not opened. Even after the two countries resumed freight train operations in 2022, they continued to use the aging Yalu River Railway Bridge (China–Joseon Friendship Bridge).
The resumption of overland postal exchanges was announced after a summit early last month between North Korean Chairperson Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping, aligning with the momentum in which the two countries confirmed their intent to expand exchanges and cooperation. At the time, Chairperson Kim said, "I hope the two countries will deepen mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation to achieve more outcomes," directly mentioning "economic cooperation."
As North Korea–China relations enter a normalization phase this year and high-level exchanges follow one after another, there is speculation that the reopening of mail service could accelerate stalled economic exchanges such as the opening of the New Yalu River Bridge or group tours of Chinese to North Korea.