Koreas to conduct co-study of railway system

South Koreas's Vice Transport Minister Kim Jeong-ryeol, left, and the North's Vice Railroad Minister Kim Yun-hyok shake hands ahead of a meeting on railroad cooperation at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Tuesday. / Joint Press Corps

By Kim Bo-eun, Joint Press Corps

The two Koreas agreed to form a joint team to look into the North's railways and how to connect them with those in the South and modernize the entire system, according to a joint press statement released after an inter-Korean meeting Tuesday.

They agreed to begin checking the North's railways along the west coast and east coast, July 24, after inspecting routes that will link the lines in the South and North in mid-July, the statement said.

Plans for construction, and traffic and communication systems will be drawn up once the inspections are completed. The two sides also agreed on the need to modernize the railway system as soon as possible, it added.

The meeting is a follow-up to agreements in the Panmunjeom Declaration reached at the April 27 inter-Korean summit. This is the first time in a decade for the Koreas to meet to discuss the issue of connecting railroads.

The talks led by Vice Transport Minister Kim Jeong-ryeol and the North's Vice Railroad Minister Kim Yun-hyok took place at the truce village of Panmunjeom.

“Although it took a long time for us to meet, we believe there is no change in each of our hearts and willingness in inter-Korean railway cooperation,” the North's Kim said ahead of the meeting.

“There can be curves in two tracks, but we believe there can be no curves in each of our hearts and willingness to connect our people's arteries (railways).”

He added, “Railways are referred to as a lead in inter-Korean economic cooperation _ the railway cooperation project between the North and South can play the role of a retractor for other projects.”

Prospects of economic cooperation appear bright amid the reconciliatory mood between the Koreas, after the leaders of the South and North met twice in recent months, and Pyongyang declared its willingness for denuclearization in talks with the U.S.

However, because North Korea is currently under multiple sanctions imposed both by individual states and the international community, immediate economic cooperation is still impossible.

At the first meeting between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in April, Kim invited Moon to Pyongyang, but mentioned the railway system there was poor. He said he heard from North Korean delegates who attended the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February that the transportation system in the South was advanced.

The Koreas will also hold talks on roads Thursday and on reforestation in the North, July 4. Earlier this month, the two countries held general-level military talks, meetings to discuss sports cooperation and Red Cross talks to resume reunions of family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. The South and North agreed to restore military hotlines, hold an inter-Korean basketball competition and field a joint team for the Asian Games, as well as holding reunions for separated family members in August.

In January and February 2008, the South and North held talks at the currently shuttered Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North to discuss linking railways and roads. Preparations are taking place at the Gaeseong complex to open a joint liaison office there, which was also among the agreements in the Panmunjeom Declaration. When it opens, it will be the first joint office to organize inter-Korean affairs.