Railway Cooperation

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The U.N. Security Council has granted an exemption to sanctions against North Korea that allow inter-Korean surveys on railway lines. The two Koreas are now stepping up their cooperation in the railway sector and will likely launch joint surveys within this week.

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An official from South Korea's Unification Ministry said that South and North Korea on Monday will launch discussions of joint surveys on railway connection and modernization. Their goal is to begin joint surveys later this week. The timeline takes into account the stipulation that the United Nations Command, which controls traffic in the military demarcation line, must be notified of the schedule 48 hours in advance. The joint surveys will begin from the Gyeongui Line, which connects the cities of Gaeseong and Sinuiju. A South Korean locomotive will bring six carriages to the North. They will be later connected to a North Korean locomotive. The South and North Korean surveyors will inspect the condition of the railways, tunnels and station facilities. After surveying the Gyeongui Line, they will inspect the Donghae Line connecting the Kumgangsan Mountain and Tumen River areas. The surveys are expected to take about half a month. Now that the joint railway surveys are about to begin, the railway connection project is likely to be launched within the year in line with the Pyongyang Declaration signed at the September inter-Korean summit. Presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok, who is heading the committee for implementing inter-Korean declarations, said that starting the railway connection project within the year is possible. He added that if the project gains speed along with the denuclearization process, South Koreans will be able to travel by train to watch the 2022 Beijing Olympics. However, pundits say that the exemption has only been granted for the sanctions regarding the joint surveys and many stumbling blocks such as progress in the North Korea-U.S. denuclearization talks remain before the project is carried out in reality.