North Korea’s recent economic growth and leader Kim Jong Un’s repeated nods to addressing a widening regional “wealth gap” suggest the time may be right to build a new bridge linking the country’s main port city on the west coast to the southern provinces.

There are currently no bridges across the Taedong River between the main port city of Nampho and Pyongyang, meaning deliveries through the port must make a 65-mile (105 km) detour up to the capital or an even slower route across the West Sea Barrage to reach the closest southern city.

A new bridge across the river