DPRK, S.Korea Begin Work to Relink North-South Rail, Roads

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 19, 2002

DPRK, S.Korea Begin Work to Relink North-South Rail, Roads

Construction work to reconnect the Gyeongui and Donghae railways between DPRK and South Korea began Wednesday.

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Construction of a railway line connecting South Korea with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) began Wednesday, representing an important step further in the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Dorasan Station near Paju, Gyeonggi province, with the participation of Prime Minister-designate Kim Suk-soo, diplomats in Seoul and representatives fromall walks of the South Korean society, the Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea has laid tracks and sleepers up to the Demilitarized Zone that separated the Korean peninsula into two parts after a civil war in the 1950s, leaving only 1.8 kilometers to be completed.

The inter-Korean railway, which will link Seoul with the DPRK capital of Pyongyang and end at Shinuiju in the north, is expectedto be operational by the end of this year.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, a ceremony was held at the Unification Observatory in Goseong-gun, Gangwon Province, to mark the beginning of the construction of a road leading to DPRK's tourist attraction Mount Kumgang on the eastern coast.

South Korean authorities said the road project would be completed by September 2003.

It is reported that similar ceremonies were also held at the DPRK side. Since an inter-Korean summit in 2000, the south and north sides on the Korean peninsula have stepped up efforts towardnational reconciliation and unification.

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