North Korean Economy Watch

It appears that the DPRK and Russia have inked a deal on reconstruction of the Kashan-Rajin railway line.  It is not quite the “Great Game,” but it does involve the Russians getting access to a port they can use year-round.

Excerpts from the media piece:

A delegation from the Russian Railways Company held talks with the North Korean railway and commerce ministries as well as officials from other departments on renovating the 55-km Khasan-Rajin railway and the Rajin port, the report said.

The two sides reached agreement to start the renovation work at an early date, the report said.

The Khasan-Rajin railway links Russia’s Khasan border settlement to the North Korea’s Rajin port.

Due to different rail gauges of the two countries, the reconstruction requires the laying of new railway tracks, rebuilding of tunnels and bridges, and upgrading of the automatic signal systems.

The handling capacity of the Rajin port, a major harbour in the northeastern part of North Korea, will also be expanded after the reconstruction.

Discussion of the broader strategic concerns can be found here, here, and here. 

The full article can be found here (h/t DPRK Studies):
North Korea, Russia reach agreement on Khasan-Rajin railway
NewKerala.com
3/16/2008

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 6:07 pm and is filed under China, Foreign direct investment, Railways, Rajin-Sonbong (Rason), Russia, Special administrative regions, Transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.