By Yi Whan-woo
The two Koreas and Russia plan to carry out the second trial run of a joint logistics project from Thursday through May 9, according to the government, Wednesday.
The Ministry of Unification said a total of 140,000 tons of bituminous coal produced from Siberia will be shipped from the Russian border town of Khasan to Rajin, a port city in North Korea, between Thursday and Friday.
Under the so-called Rajin-Khasan project, two ships will then transport the coal from Rajin to South Korea's three port cities ― Dangjin and Boryeong in South Chungcheong Province and Gwangyang in South Jeolla Province ― through May 9.
One of the ships will deliver 40,000 tons of coal at once to a steel plant operated by POSCO, South Korea's largest steelmaker, in Gwangyang.
The other vessel will go back and forth between the two Koreas to deliver the remaining 100,000 tons of coal, which will be used by state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation's power plants, at Dangjin and Boryeong in two separate shipments.
The shipment this month comes after some 45,000 tons of bituminous coals were transported to Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province in November last year after crossing a 54-kilometer cross-border railway between Khasan and Rajin.
POSCO purchased the coal back under the government's supervision as part its feasibility test for the Rajin-Khasan project.
Embarked on in 2008, Pyongyang and Moscow have been refurbishing a railway between the two areas.
Three South Korean enterprises ― POSCO, Hyundai Merchant Marine and the state-run Korea Railroad Corporation ― formed a consortium to take part in the project by purchasing a share from the Russian side, which holds a 70-percent stake.
The three-way project has raised a question whether South Korea is making a controversial approach toward its economic sanctions against North Korea in its steps to implement the Eurasia initiative, which inevitably requires Pyongyang's cooperation.
Unveiled in October 2013, the initiative is aimed at connecting roads and railways for the construction of a multi-purpose logistics networks among Eurasian nations. In particular, it proposes the construction of a Trans-Siberian express railway that will start from Busan and extend to London via North Korea and Russia.
The "Rajin-Khasan project" is seen as an integral part to implement this initiative.
But the Park Geun-hye administration has said it will not lift the so-called May 24 measures despite calls to improve frayed inter-Korean ties.
The punitive measures ban all inter-Korean trade and other cooperative efforts, except for those within the Gaesong Industrial Park. Seoul imposed them against the internationally-isolated state on May 24, 2010, in response to Pyongyang's sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan in March of that year.
The two Koreas and Russia plan to carry out the second trial run of a joint logistics project from Thursday through May 9, according to the government, Wednesday.
The Ministry of Unification said a total of 140,000 tons of bituminous coal produced from Siberia will be shipped from the Russian border town of Khasan to Rajin, a port city in North Korea, between Thursday and Friday.
Under the so-called Rajin-Khasan project, two ships will then transport the coal from Rajin to South Korea's three port cities ― Dangjin and Boryeong in South Chungcheong Province and Gwangyang in South Jeolla Province ― through May 9.
One of the ships will deliver 40,000 tons of coal at once to a steel plant operated by POSCO, South Korea's largest steelmaker, in Gwangyang.
The other vessel will go back and forth between the two Koreas to deliver the remaining 100,000 tons of coal, which will be used by state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation's power plants, at Dangjin and Boryeong in two separate shipments.
The shipment this month comes after some 45,000 tons of bituminous coals were transported to Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province in November last year after crossing a 54-kilometer cross-border railway between Khasan and Rajin.
POSCO purchased the coal back under the government's supervision as part its feasibility test for the Rajin-Khasan project.
Embarked on in 2008, Pyongyang and Moscow have been refurbishing a railway between the two areas.
Three South Korean enterprises ― POSCO, Hyundai Merchant Marine and the state-run Korea Railroad Corporation ― formed a consortium to take part in the project by purchasing a share from the Russian side, which holds a 70-percent stake.
The three-way project has raised a question whether South Korea is making a controversial approach toward its economic sanctions against North Korea in its steps to implement the Eurasia initiative, which inevitably requires Pyongyang's cooperation.
Unveiled in October 2013, the initiative is aimed at connecting roads and railways for the construction of a multi-purpose logistics networks among Eurasian nations. In particular, it proposes the construction of a Trans-Siberian express railway that will start from Busan and extend to London via North Korea and Russia.
The "Rajin-Khasan project" is seen as an integral part to implement this initiative.
But the Park Geun-hye administration has said it will not lift the so-called May 24 measures despite calls to improve frayed inter-Korean ties.
The punitive measures ban all inter-Korean trade and other cooperative efforts, except for those within the Gaesong Industrial Park. Seoul imposed them against the internationally-isolated state on May 24, 2010, in response to Pyongyang's sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan in March of that year.
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