 A train departs Munsan Station in Paju, near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, for a test run on Gyeongeui railway line between Seoul and Sineuiju of North Korea, in this May 16 file photo, a day before the pilot cross-border operation. The two Koreas agreed on South Koreans' train trip to Beijing via North Korea for the 2008 Olympic Games at the summit meeting Thursday. / Korea Times |
By Kim Rahn and Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporters
South Koreans attending the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are likely to head to China on trains on an overland route across North Korea, together with North Koreans.
It will be the first time for ordinary South Korean citizens to travel abroad by land since the Korean Peninsula was divided into two after the 1950-53 Korean War.
President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il made the agreement on the train trip to China for the Olympic Games at the end of their summit Thursday.
According to an announcement, cheering squads from South Korea will be allowed to use North Korea's railway to get to Beijing next year. North Korean squads might take the trains as well in the middle of the trip at Gaeseong Station.
The railroad between Seoul and the North's border town of Sineuiju, which was cut during the war, was reconnected as far as Gaeseong in 2003 following an agreement made at the first inter-Korean summit in 2000. A pilot cross-border operation was conducted last May, but no commercial operations have been made yet.
The two leaders also agreed to operate direct flights between Seoul and Mount Baekdu on the North Korea-China border to allow South Koreans to visit it.
The North decided to approve trips to Mount Baekdu in 2005 and the South provided asphalt pitch for the repair of runways at the airport there. But the project has yet to bear fruit.
South Koreans have visited the mountain from the Chinese side, with the annual number of visitors standing at 100,000.
Exchanges and cooperation in social and cultural fields, including history, language, education, scientific technology and arts, will also be promoted.
Seoul and Pyongyang agreed on the humanitarian cooperation including the issue of displaced families in the South and North.
There has been some progress on this issue as the two Koreas have held 15 rounds of face-to-face reunions for some 15,000 family members and six rounds of video conferences for 3,000 people.
But it has become an urgent issue as the first generation is getting older, most of whom are in their 80s and 90s. Every year, 4,000 to 5,000 displaced family members die.
They agreed on the project to hold more video conferences for families and seek more cooperation once a family reunion center is completed at Mt. Geumgang in the North.
Also, they agreed to provided mutual assistance during natural disasters such as flooding.
rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr
e3dward@koreatimes.co.kr
![Biden takes office as 46th president [PHOTOS]](http://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/newsV2/images/a001_3244e8e107351.jpg/dims/resize/268/optimize)
