Koreas complete inspection of North's railway

Officials of the South and North inspect a railway track of the North's Donghae Line in this photo. / Courtesy of Unification Ministry

Joint Press Corps

A team of South Korean officials who examined North Korea's railway line along its east coast, sometimes referred to as the Donghae Line in the South, returned home Monday after completing their inspection of the west and east coast networks that began Nov. 30. This was the first time a South Korean train has traveled the 800-kilometer line from Mount Geumgang to the Tumen River.

Im Jong-il, a land ministry director who led the 28-member team, said the condition of the east coast line was similar to the one on the west coast (called the Gyeongui Line in South Korea).

“The section starting from Mount Geumgang Station began construction in 1997 and 20 years have passed so it has deteriorated,” he told reporters at the Inter-Korean Transit Office in Goseong, Gangwon Province.

“The train had to run at 30 kilometers per hour because of the condition of the tracks.”

He said additional examinations were necessary, and that the South and North would seek to hold further discussions early next year.

The train that carried the inspection team will return to the South today.

The team conducted inspections of the 400-kilometer west coast railway from Nov. 30 through Dec. 5. The team returned to the South on that day and departed Dec. 8 to examine the east coast line through Dec. 17.

A train with two North Korean locomotives and three carriages, and six South Korean carriages traveled a total of 2,600 kilometers for the inspection.

Meanwhile, a ceremony marking the launch of inter-Korean railway and road projects will be held Dec. 26 at Panmun Station in Gaeseong in the North.

South Korea will send officials there this week to prepare for the ceremony, unification ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said.

The spokesman said the government is discussing with the U.S. possible violations of sanctions on Pyongyang in holding the ceremony.

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun will visit Seoul this week for a working group meeting with his counterpart Lee Do-hoon.

This is the second meeting between Biegun and Lee since the working group was launched last month for closer consultations on inter-Korean relations and North Korea's denuclearization process.

The officials are expected to discuss matters related to the ceremony.