Two Koreas agree to launch cross-border cargo railway service

Posted on : 2007-11-16 14:48 KST Modified on : 2007-11-16 14:48 KST

South and North Korea agreed Friday to begin a cross-border cargo railway service next month and jointly repair the North's dilapidated roads and railways next year as a follow-up to reconciliation measures agreed upon at their recent summit.

The agreement at the end of three-day inter-Korean prime ministerial talks is aimed at facilitating transportation of personnel and materials from the South to the joint industrial complex in the North's border city of Kaesong, where dozens of South Korean firms employ over 20,000 North Korean workers.

The railway renovation and 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, could be transported to Europe at lower costs and in less time.

"The South and the North agreed to begin cargo railway services between Munsan and Bongdong on Dec. 11," a joint statement released by the two sides said, referring to a 20-kilometer railway section that connects South Korea and the North's border town of Kaesong.

Working-level talks will be held in Kaesong for two days from Tuesday to finalize the agreement on the cross-border train service, according to the statement.

The sides also agreed to begin repairing the North's highway between Pyongyang and its border town of Kaesong next year, along with a railway connecting Kaesong to Shinuiju, a northern gateway to the Chinese mainland.

The talks between South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-il, the first of their kind since 1992, came as a follow-up to the summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang in early October.

"The agreement is the first step toward enhancing inter-Korean relations in quality development through the virtuous circle of peace and economy," South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said.

The divided Koreas also agreed to begin work in the first half of next year to create a joint fishing area in the disputed western sea border region where their navies had deadly skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.

Also agreed upon was the establishment of a joint economic committee, headed by deputy prime ministers, to deal with economic cooperation issues. The first meeting will be held in Seoul on Dec.

4-6.

At the summit held Oct. 2-4, the leaders of the divided Koreas agreed on various reconciliation projects, including the establishment of a special cooperation zone in the West Sea and joint shipyards in the communist North.

"The South and the North agreed to begin work to build a joint fishing zone in the first half of 2008," the statement said.

To this end, a joint committee, consisting of five to seven officials from each side, will be established.

The first meeting of the envisioned committee will be held before the end of the year to discuss efficient operation of the joint fishing zone and cooperation in the fishing industry.

The proposed cooperation zone in the West Sea also includes joint utilization of the Han River's estuary and joint development of the North's Haeju port. The Koreas will conduct a joint feasibility study on the North Korean port by year's end and finalize plans to turn Haeju, currently used as a naval base, into an economic center.

The sides also agreed to the construction of a communications center at the Kaesong industrial complex to facilitate use of Internet and mobile phones there and the start of an inter-Korean tourism program to the North's Mount Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula.

A series of talks will be held next month to discuss the launch of a tourism program to Mount Paektu, as well as the use of the North's Pyongyang-Shinuiju railway to transport a joint cheering squad of the two Koreas to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The rare discussions between the prime ministers also made progress on the thorny issues of separated families, as well as South Korean prisoners of war and people abducted to the North since the end of 1950-53 Korean War.

Red Cross officials will meet on Nov. 28-30 at the North's Mount Geumgang where separated families have held one-time, brief reunions.

The next round of the prime ministerial talks will be held in Pyongyang within the first half of next year as the sides agreed to regularize the talks every six months.

The first prime ministerial talks in 15 years ended shortly after the head delegates exchanged signed agreements. Kim and his 42-member entourage later met with Roh over lunch at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

The North Koreans were set to return home later Friday on a one-time direct flight by the North's Air Koryo.


SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Yonhap)

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