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Russia Signs North-South Korea Rail Link Deal
Russia and North Korea signed an agreement on Tuesday which could culminate in the reconstruction of a rail link that unites the divided Korean peninsula, Russia's Railway Ministry said on its website www.mps.ru.
Russian officials have long touted the project, which would eventually link South Korea's export-driven economy to markets in Europe over the trans-Siberian railway, cutting transit times and costs and helping to thaw tensions on the divided peninsula. "The document opens the way to concrete actions to reconnect the railways of South and North Korea by a trans-Korean railroad," the ministry said.
Signature of the agreement follows a visit to Moscow by DPRK leader Kim Jong-il last week.
After a summit last year the Koreas made a start on reconnecting the railway across the border, although DPRK suspended work in May.
The railroad was originally meant to run from Seoul to Sinuiju, a city on DPRK's border with China.
But Russia's Railway Ministry said during his Moscow visit Kim changed the route to follow DPRK's eastern coast along the Sea of Japan instead of the Western coast along the Yellow Sea, linking directly to Russia without crossing China.
The ministry said the link would start in Tumangun, on the tiny Russia-DPRK border and end at a border town named Pyonggang on the border between North and South Koreas.
"Most European countries, as well as states from the Far East, are interested in the new transport bridge because it will cut the time of cargo deliveries by almost half," the ministry said.
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