Koreas to Join Railway Tracks Saturday
2003-06-14
On the eve of the third anniversary of the June 15 Joint Accord signed by their leaders, the two Koreas will connect the tracks of cross-border railways in two corridors on the heavily fortified border on Saturday (June 14).
At 11 a.m., some hundred South and North Koreans will witness the joining of the last 25-meter sections along the Gyeongui (Seoul-Sinuiju) and Donghae (East Sea) lines during a largely symbolic ceremony. Operations along the Gyeongui Line are at least three months away.
Following a June 9 working-level agreement, however, ranking personnel from Seoul and Pyongyang will not take part in the ceremony, with only director general-level officials set to attend.
No government-level ceremony on the anniversary of the historic summit is planned for June 15. Civilian groups, which have held joint ceremonies with their North Korean counterparts every year since 2001, are planning a separate event as proposed by Pyongyang due to fears of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
The Korea Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC), a civil coalition which played a main role in conducting cultural and social exchanges with North Korea, said they will hold an international peace conference tomorrow at Dorasan Station, the northernmost South Korean railway station along the Gyeongui Line.
Johns Hopkins professor Don Oberdorfer and Tokyo National University professor Haruki Wada, both renowned Korea experts, will attend the event, the KCRC said.
Source : www.korea.net
