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Koreas Re-Link Countries for 1st Time

2003-06-16

South and North Korea connected railways across their heavily armed border Saturday, re-linking the two countries for the first time in more than a half century, the AP reported on Sunday (June 15).

The event came on the eve of the third anniversary of a historic inter-Korean summit, and amid tensions over the North's suspected development of nuclear weapons.

Military engineers from both sides laid tracks over the borderline and tightened the bolts to connect the line near the west coast that will eventually run from Seoul to Pyongyang, the two capitals, according to South Korean pool reports.

"Removing barbed-wire fences and mines, the nation's artery has been re-linked," said the South's delegate, Cho Myoung-gyun, at a ceremony inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two countries.

Kim Byung-chul, the North's chief delegate, said: "Through this railway will run the feverish blood of the nation, warm hospitality and the history of co-prosperity."

A similar ceremony was held near the east coast on another planned railway, the reports said. Foreign journalists were not allowed to cover the events inside the 4-kilometer-wide DMZ.

Reconciliation between the two Koreas had flourished following the 2000 summit between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The historic meeting helped the South Korean leader win that year's Nobel Peace Prize.

The two railways are the most visible symbols of reconciliation between the Koreas, divided at the end of World War II. The last train crossed the inter-Korean border shortly before the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

Reconciliation efforts on the Korean peninsula have slowed since a dispute flared over the North's nuclear ambitions. Last October, U.S. officials said North Korea admitted having a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of a 1994 agreement with Washington.

Despite the ceremonial railway connection, trains won't run between the two Koreas for some time. Along the western line, South Korea has completed the 12-kilometer section, while the North has finished just 2 kilometers of its 15-kilometer section. Only the leveling of the ground and removing of mines has been completed for the eastern line.

Both sides have said they want to complete work on the western line by the end of August, and the eastern line by the end of this year. The 518 kilometer-long western Gyeongui line will link Seoul to Pyongyang, and extend to Sinuiju on North Korea's border with China. The eastern Donghae line will span 192 kilometers between Yangyang in the South and Anbyeon in the North.

South Korea hopes the rail lines will eventually extend to the trans-Siberian and the trans-China railways, allowing its goods cheaper access to the Russian and European markets. It expects shipping a 20-foot-long container by train would cost $200-250, sharply down from the $720 by boat.

The cross-border railway is also aimed at encouraging economic exchange on the Korean peninsula, the last remaining Cold War frontier.

Source : www.korea.net