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South Korea, Russia Agree to Link Railways
The South Korean and Russian prime ministers will hold talks this month on connecting a new inter-Korean railway with the Trans-Siberian railroad as a means of boosting trade, South Korean officials said Saturday.
The talks were agreed at a meeting between South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the UN Millennium summit in New York.
The prime ministerial talks, due to take place around the end of this month, will also discuss the construction of fibre optic telecommunication cables, energy and power supplies and the development of Russia's Nakhodka industrial complex and Irkutsk gas field.
"The two leaders shared the opinion that the two Koreas and Russia will be able to maximize mutual benefits through close economic cooperation," presidential spokesman Park Jun-Young told journalists in New York.
"On the basis of this agreement, regional economic cooperation involving China, Japan and Mongolia will become possible," Park said.
South and North Korea are moving to restore two key railways, one running from Seoul to the northwestern city of Shinuiju and China and the other from Seoul to the northeastern city of Wonsan and to Siberia.
South Korean officials said the project to link the Seoul-Wonsan line with the Trans-Siberian line would receive support from international organizations including the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) because of its economic benefit.
"Once the Seoul-Wonsan line is linked with the Trans-Siberian Railroad, Asia will be connected to the European Continent and this will add momentum to the prosperity in East Asia," Kim Dae-Jung was quoted as telling Putin.
He suggested that Russia and South Korea join hands to develop resources in Siberia and have North Korea take part and share the benefit.
"If the railways are linked, there will be a quantum leap in many fields, including the construction of fibre optic cables for telecommunication, energy and power," Putin said.
The South Korean government is also considering taking out loans from international financial institutions including the Asian Development Bank for the project, South Korean officials said.
The Construction and Transportation Ministry said it would cost an estimated 260 billion won (236 million dollars) and take up to 36 months to restore the Seoul-Wonsan line.
Kim Dae-Jung has said the restoration of rail links, severed by the 1950-53 Korean War, could usher in "a new era of iron Silk Road linking the Far East with Eruope."
Putin and Kim Dae-Jung also discussed the Russian leader's visit to Pyongyang in July and the historic inter-Korean summit with the North's leader Kim Jong-Il in June.
Putin said Moscow fully supported Seoul's peace initiative toward North Korea.
The New York meeting marked the first summit between Kim Dae-Jung and Putin since the Russian president took office.
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