Two Koreas To Run Cross-border Freight Train Daily
-- BERNAMA November 22, 2007 12:12 PM
SEOUL, Nov 22 (Bernama) -- The two Koreas agreed Thursday to run a daily freight train service across the border starting in mid December to facilitate transportation of raw materials and processed goods between the South Korea-invested industrial park in the North's border town of Kaesong and the South.
Starting the cross-border cargo rail service for the first time since 1951 was the key agreement reached at last week's talks between Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-il in Seoul, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
The railway linkage agreement comes as South Korea, Russia and China have been discussing ambitious projects to connect the two Koreas' railway systems to the Trans-Siberian and Trans-China railways so products from South Korea, the world's 11th-biggest economy, can be transported to Europe more cheaply and quickly.
The Koreas "agreed to start a daily freight train service between (South Korea's) Munsan and (North Korea's) Bongdong on Dec. 11 and jointly hold an opening ceremony on Dec. 11," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Nam-shik said in a press release.
Working-level officials held overnight talks in the North Korean border town in Kaesong to agree on the daily cargo rail service.
The 19.8-km route, which runs near to the joint industrial complex in Kaesong, is expected to cut the transportation cost for South Korean firms by nearly half, replacing hundreds of trucks used each day to move the raw materials to the South.
Kaesong's monthly output was worth US$18 million in October. South Korean factories in the complex produce garments, utensils and other labour-intensive products with cheap North Korean labour.
The railroad severed during the 1950-53 Korean War was reconnected in 2003 as a result of reconciliatory accords reached in the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000.
After repeated delays due to opposition from the North's military, a passenger train ran on the route along the west coast of the peninsula for the first time in May.
Another inter-Korean railway along the east coast was also briefly opened at that time.
At the second-ever inter-Korean summit in October, President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed to start a cargo railway service to help boost economic cooperation.
In the overnight talks, the Koreas also agreed to conduct a field survey on Dec. 12-18 to prepare for the repair work of the Kaesong-Sinuiju railway.
The route is part of the Seoul-Sinuiju railway, which will be repaired next year to be used by a joint cheering squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and other inter-Korean projects.
Repairing dilapidated highways and railways were North Korea's key agenda in the prime ministerial talks, according to Chosun Sinbo, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper published by ethnic Koreans in Japan.
Koreas agree to expand cross-border train service to passenger transportation next year
Axill TV 2007-12-22 14:30:03
North and South Korea agreed to expand a cross-border cargo rail service to passenger transportation next year, the Unification Ministry said Saturday.
The two sides began the regular train service across their heavily armed border for the first time in more than a half century early this month. But the service is limited only to freight transportation to and from a joint venture factory park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong.
The rail's opening was part of measures to improve the industrial complex, a key symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas that are still technically at war because their 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
Economic officials from the two sides met in Kaesong on Thursday and Friday to discuss further boosting the industrial zone, and agreed on expanding the rail service and other measures, such as simplifying customs and border-crossing procedures, the ministry said in a statement.
South Korean workers, who commute to the Kaesong complex, can take the train to work, it said.
The two sides have yet to work out details, including when to start the passenger service.
The opening of the train service was one of the tangible results of an October summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun that outlined a series of joint projects. That summit was only the second-ever such meeting between the two Koreas, following the first one in 2000.
http://www.axilltv.com/bkpost-2.php?newsid=222137
Posted: 19/03/2008 6:54 pm Post subject: ตัดตู้ รถเปล่า รถข้ามแดน
Koreas agree to cut back empty cross-border cargo trains
China Post Thursday, January 31, 2008
AP
SEOUL, South Korea -- South and North Korea have agreed to maintain weekday cargo rail service across their heavily armed border but cut back empty train cars, the South's Unification Ministry said.
The two sides launched the cargo rail service in December - the first trains running regularly across the border in more than half a century - to a joint industrial complex in the North Korean city of Kaesong.
But the North has since proposed cutting the number of trains running across the border, citing a lack of freight to transport. The 12-car regular train has run empty many times because South Korean companies operating factories in the industrial zone are reluctant to use the service because road transport is more convenient and costs less.
Nevertheless, the South sees the cargo rail service as an important symbol and holds out hopes it could lead to trains eventually traveling through the North to destinations beyond - ending South Korea's status as a virtual island, its sole land border the heavily guarded frontier with North Korea.
The two Koreas agreed during two days of talks to run the cargo train every day but only for train cars loaded with cargo starting Friday, the ministry said in a statement late Wednesday.
The opening of the cross-border service was one of the tangible accomplishments of an October meeting between the leaders of two Koreas - the second-ever summit between the two sides.
In December, the two sides also agreed in principle to open passenger rail service to ferry South Korean workers to and from the sprawling complex. North Korean workers will be allowed to use the train service within their country to commute to work.
Details have yet to be worked out, and it is unclear when the service can start.
The two Koreas fought the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the divided peninsula still technically at war. But their relations warmed after their first summit of leaders in 2000, and improved further during their second summit.
Posted: 19/03/2008 6:55 pm Post subject: รัสเซี - เกาหลีเหนือ ฟื้นฟูรถไฟข้ามแดน
Russia, DPRK agree to restore cross-border railway
Vietnam News Agency 16/03/2008 -- 10:04 PM
Ha Noi (VNA) Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have agreed to restore a cross-border railway linking Khasan city in Russias Far East and DPRKs northern port city of Rajin.
A group of Russian experts arrived in the DPRK on March 11 to discuss the restoration of the 55-km Khasan-Rajin railway.
Due to different rail gauges, the two countries will have to reconstruct rails and upgrade signal systems.
The Russian Railways Company planned to invest about 1 billion USD to modernise the 55-km railway and build a cargo station in Rajin, foreign news said.-Enditem
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