Historic Inter-Korean
Railway Crossing

Test-runs for reconnecting severed inter-Korean railways represent a symbolic gesture of inter-Korean reconciliation

The two trains from South and North Korea crossed the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas of the divided Korean peninsula along the two reconnected railway lines for the first time in 60 years.
In a symbolic gesture for inter-Korean reconciliation, South and North Korea conducted the test runs for reconnecting the two cross-border railways - the Donghae Line, the one running along the East Coast and the Gyeongui Line, the other running along the West Coast - in the morning of May 17.
Reconnecting the inter-Korean railways that have been severed since Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule is one of the three representative inter-Korean economic collaboration projects that have been carried out according to the June 15, 2000 joint communique'issued by South and North Korea together with the Gaeseong Industrial Estate and Mt. Geumgang projects.
In December 2005, the two Koreas completed a project to re-link the 27.3 km Musan-Gaeseong section that has been severed along the Gyeongui Line between Seoul and Shinuiju, North Korea, and the other to reconnect the 25.5 km Jaejin- Mt. Geumgang portion that has remained closed along the Donghae Line between Busan and Anbyeon, North Korea. The sections of the two inter-border railways were shut down shortly after Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945.
A South Korean train bound for North Korea ran on the Gyeongui Line carrying 150 delegates each from South and North Korea. The test-run event began at around 10:30 a.m. near the Munsan Station in a festive mood boosted by a crowd of well-wishers and Korean and international media people who converged to cover the historic inter-Korean railway crossing. Aboard the train were Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung and his North Korean counterpart Kwon Ho-ung as well as former unification ministers Lee Jong-seok and Lim Dong-won, South Korean Red Cross chief Han Wan-sang, National Security Adviser to President Roh Moo-hyun, Baek Jong-chun, poet Ko Eun and actress Ko Eun-a.
The train temporary pulled up at Dorasan Station for a customs check, which was conducted by South Korean officials into the carriages. As the train crossed the Military Demarcation Line, the delegates from both sides sang together the song "Our Hope is Unification"in a gesture of yearning for realization of a unified Korea. They cheered and clapped on the news that the train has just crossed the MDL.
The train then briefly stopped over Panmun Station for another customs check by North Korean officials before arriving at the terminus of Gaeseong Station at 1 p.m.
Another group of 150 Koreans from both sides made a similar journey along the Donghae Line from North Korea to South Korea. The North Koran train carrying South Korean Minister of Construction and Transportation Lee Yong-sup and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-sam, embarked on the trip from Mt. Geumggang Station and arrived in the South Korean terminus of Jaejin Station.

Sources familiar to the inter-Korean railway crossing said South Korean Minister of Construction and Transportation Kim and North Korean Minister Kim discussed matters of mutual concern during their joint journey aboard the train bound for South Korea. They said that their agenda could include a proposal to operate the cross-boarder railways permanently, departing from the one-time test-runs.
South Korea hopes to inaugurate a joint South-North railway operation committee as soon as possible in accordance with the basic agreement on the operation of inter-Korean trains, which went into effect in August 2005, following the historic inter-Korean railway crossing. The agreement calls for details of the operation of inter-Korean trains, including the operation routes, time, speed and signals, according to the sources.
South Korean officials express the hope that reconnecting the inter-Korean border railways are expected to have diverse effects, including contributing to the development of inter-Korean common economic growth and co-prosperity by eventually securing logistics centers of Northeast Asia through a linkage to Eurasia.
In his speech before a ceremony before embarking on the journey toward North Korea, Unification Minster Lee Jae-joung expressed the hope that the reconnected railways would significantly improve inter-Korean economic ties by refurbishing the peninsula's logistics network.
"By forming a comprehensive logistic network linking the two Koreas, the trains are expected to cement inter-Korean economic relationships, particularly even on their respective levels of economic development,:"Unification Minister Lee said.
In an interview with SBS Radio on May 18, Minister Lee indicated that as it comes to a possibility of launching a project to modernize the North Korean railways, it could be construed as a concept of investments for the development of our economy whatever cost it takes.
Minister of Construction and Transportation Lee told a breakfast meeting in Seoul Hilton Hotel on May 16 one day before the railway test runs that South and North Korea would conduct the trial runs in the run-up to the complete reconnection of the long-standing severed railways. Minister Lee said it was significant to lay a technical foundation for the normal operation of inter-Korean railways through the railway test-runs, and his ministry would do its best to serve as an opportunity to further link the inter-Korean railways to the Trans Siberia Railway.
Government sources said the government could consider a possibility of sending South Korean materials aids to North Korea through the just tested inter-Korean railways.
However, skepticism is still high whether North Korea would move forward to follow up on the railway test-runs, as agreed up in 2005, observes say. nw

(above, left photo) South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung and his North Korean counterpart Kwon Ho-ung shake hands before embarking on a journey crossing the border from South Korea to North Korea on the reconnected Gyeongui Line on May 17 for the first time in 60 years. South Korean Minister of Construction and Transportation Lee Yong-sup and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-sam head for a station to board a North Korean train bound for South Korea.
(below photo) A North Korean train waits at the Mt. Geumgang Station in North Korea to carry passengers from South and North Korea along the re-linked Donghae Line across the Military Demarcation Line.