By Yi Whan-woo
The chief of an international body on railway cooperation has urged North Korea to drop its opposition to accepting South Korea as a new member, Yonhap News reported Thursday.
Tadeusz Szozda, chairman of the Organization for Cooperation Railway Lines, an association of 28 countries, said Pyongyang may be kicked out of the association if it continues opposing Seoul’s entry.
The organization, known by its Russian acronym OSJD, is trying to revise rules on obtaining membership. Under the current rules, an applicant nation should get consent from all existing member countries to join the association. However, it wants to ease the requirement to three quarters of member countries.
Currently, the OSJD also requires an approval from all member countries in overhauling its membership rules.
Current members include Russia, North Korea, China, Cuba, Iran and Vietnam. East European countries and former Soviet Union states in Central Asia are also its members.
Seoul has been seeking to join the association in an effort to implement President Park Geun-hye’s vision of promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula through a “Silkroad Express,” a railroad network that would connect South Korea’s port city of Busan to Europe via Pyongyang, Beijing and Siberia.
However, North Korea has been opposing accepting South Korea as a new member.
The OSJD was formed in June 1956 in Bulgaria to promote cooperation on international freight, passenger traffic and unified railway transport environment in the Eurasian region.
Szozda said that he and “almost all officials” from the OSJD member states wish South Korea to become a member.
He made the comment during a meeting with South Korean journalists in Warsaw, Wednesday, on the occasion of Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se’s visit there.
The chairman said Pyongyang reaffirmed its objection on June 4 during the 43rd ministerial talks of the OSJD in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Held every year, it is the highest-level meeting among the OSJD member states.
The Park government has said such a railway network would help establish an integrated system of transport, energy and trade across the continent.
During the ministerial talks in Mongolian capital, North Korea then protested it is “a matter of sovereignty” when South Korea’s proposal was brought forward as an agenda item.
This was second time that Seoul’s attempt to join the OSJD was thwarted by Pyongyang’s opposition, including the one in 2003.
“Our proposal will pave the way for South Korea and other non-OSJD member countries to increase partnership in the future,” Szozda was quoted as saying by Yonhap. “We have formed a special working group to introduce a new agreement on membership. We’ll complete a draft version of the proposal by early next year and then will get ready to win endorsement from our members.”
Yun is participating in the Warsaw-Berlin leg of the “Eurasian Express” journey. Initiated by South Korea, this is a specially-organized train expedition program from Vladivostok to Berlin from July 14 to Aug. 2 to boost economic and socio-cultural cooperation between Asia and Europe.