Cross-Border Freight Railway to Open Within Year

South and North Korea are nearing agreement on the opening of a cross-border railway within the year,

allowing mass transportation of goods produced in the joint industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong, a South Korean official said Thursday.

"There is a growing understanding between the sides for the start of cargo rail service between Munsan and Bongdong" near the North Korean border town, Kim Nam-shik, a spokesman for the Unification Ministry, said in a press briefing on ongoing talks between the prime ministers of the two Koreas here.

Kim Yong-il, the North's prime minister, arrived here Wednesday for three days of talks with his South Korean counterpart Han Duck-soo as a follow-up to a summit between the leaders of the divided Koreas held in Pyongyang early last month.

At the summit, President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed to launch cargo rail service between South Korea's Munsan and Kaesong, where dozens of South Korean firms are producing over $1 million worth of shoes, garments and other labor-intensive goods each month.

The leaders had failed to set a date for the start of the cross-border railway service, leaving the task to their prime ministers and defense ministers, who are set to hold talks in Pyongyang later this month.