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Koreas rebuild transport links

Wednesday, September 18th, 2002

BBC
9/18/2002

North and South Korea have held ceremonies ahead of work to re-link road and rail connections between the two states for the first time in more than 50 years.

Fireworks crackled and balloons were set free at the ceremonies, held simultaneously on either side of the heavily fortified border separating the Koreas.

It is the latest act of reconciliation between the rival neighbours, and came a day after North Korea moved a step closer to normalising relations with Japan following an unprecedented visit to Pyongyang by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Work to clear the heavily-mined buffer zone on the border will begin on Thursday, and the first of the rail links is expected to be re-connected as early as November.

The South Korean Prime Minister-designate Kim Suk-soo said he hoped the work would herald a new chapter in relations between the two Koreas.

Symbolic ceremonies

At one of the ceremonies on the South Korean side of Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), workers unlocked a barbed wire gate leading to the border.

South Korea has already built a rail line and road on the western side of the peninsula right up to the DMZ fence, and on Wednesday, a train trundled as far as it could.

Television pictures then showed a South Korean girl dressed as a North Korean step out from behind the fence and link hands with a South Korean boy, as fireworks exploded overhead.

Speaking at Dorasan train station – the last stop on the South’s western rail line – the South Korean prime minister-designate said the two countries had embarked on a “monumental project”.

“We are burying a history marked by the scars of war and the pain of division,” he said.

Closer ties

Rail links between the two Koreas have been cut since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War.

North and South Korea agreed to re-link the connections two years ago as part of a series of steps to improve relations.

The project involves two sets of cross-border road and rail links, on the east and west coast of the DMZ.

The plan is to link the western line to China and the eastern line to Russia, so freight can travel overland to Europe, significantly cutting costs.

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Koreas reach landmark mine deal

Sunday, September 15th, 2002

BBC
9/15/2002

Military officials from North and South Korea have agreed to start clearing land-mines inside part of the demilitarised zone separating the two countries.

The deal paves the way for the reconnection of cross-border road and rail links, after more than half-a-century of division.

The agreement – between two countries that are still technically at war – was reached after 14 hours of talks in the border village of Panmunjom.

It is due to be formally signed on Wednesday, when the two sides plan to simultaneously start work on cross-border projects.

Work to tear down barbed-wire and clear land-mines inside specified areas within the demilitarised zone is expected to begin on Thursday.

The deal also guarantees the security of workers and soldiers, and provides for the first military hotline between the two countries.

No man’s-land

The BBC’s Caroline Gluck in Seoul says it is a major breakthrough.

The demilitarised zone, a heavily fortified no-man’s-land, has been in place since the end of the Korean war in 1953 – with nearly two million troops stationed on either side.

If the work goes smoothly, one of two planned cross-border railways could be completed by the end of the year.

The South has agreed to provide construction materials to the North to enable the work to be completed.

South Korea regards the routes as a powerful symbol of reconciliation efforts, our correspondent says.

It also believes they could turn the peninsula into a transport hub.

With the lines linked to rail networks in China and Russia, freight could travel overland to Europe, significantly cutting costs.

Opening up?

The Panmunjom talks were part of a broader political agreement reached in August.

High-level talks between the two Koreas resumed last month and have been followed by a series of exchanges.

Limited numbers of elderly relatives from the two Koreas have been holding emotional reunions in the North this weekend after being separated for half-a-century.

They are the fifth round of reunions since the historic Korean summit in June 2000.

Correspondents say that the new agreement comes as North Korea is moving to improve relations with the outside world.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is making an unprecedented visit to North Korea on Tuesday

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Progress over Korean transport links

Saturday, September 14th, 2002

BBC
Caroline Gluck
9/14/2002

Military officials from the two Koreas have held talks to discuss carrying out work inside the demilitarised zone separating them, so that cross-border road and rail links can be restored.

These talks – the first of their kind in more than a year and a half – are another sign of improving ties.

The meeting, in the border village of Panmunjom, focused on the technical details of reconnecting cross-border road and rail links, which will pass through the heavily-mined demilitarised zone.

Agreements signed by defence ministers from both countries are needed to guarantee the safety of workers and prevent accidental clashes between the two armies, which have maintained an uneasy truce since the Korean War ended in 1953.

Last month, the two sides set out a timetable for the work, saying they hoped to complete one rail link by the end of the year.

Reunions

At least two more rounds of working-level talks are expected, and officials are confident that agreements will be in place before ground-breaking ceremonies are held in the two Koreas next Wednesday, marking the resumption of work.

The South has agreed to provide construction materials to the North, and in separate meetings held in North Korea officials are discussing the engineering details of the projects.

The two Koreas are still technically at war, but Seoul sees transport links as one of the most powerful symbols of their reconciliation efforts.

High-level talks between the two Koreas resumed last month and have been followed by a series of exchanges.

Limited numbers of elderly relatives from the two Koreas are currently holding emotional reunions in the North after being separated for half-a-century.

They are the fifth round of reunions since the historic Korean summit in June 2000.

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Breakthrough on North Korea links

Friday, August 30th, 2002

BBC
8/30/2002

The two Koreas have agreed to begin work on restoring road and rail links across their troubled border.

The agreement, which followed two days of economic talks in Seoul, is the latest sign that the secretive North is determined to end its diplomatic isolation.

The North has also agreed to receive Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for an historic visit in September.

The two countries have no diplomatic relations and no Japanese prime minister has ever visited.

Mr Koizumi was due to spend one day in the North on 17 September and hold talks with its leader Kim Jong-il.

“I want to discuss directly with him the possibility of restarting efforts to normalize our relations,” Mr Koizumi said.

Japan and South Korea’s eagerness to engage with North Korea appeared to sit at odds with American wariness towards the communist state.

On Thursday, a senior US diplomat warned that North Korea was the world’s leading exporter of ballistic missile technology and repeated President George W Bush’s assertion that it forms part of an “axis of evil”.

Mr Koizumi said he had discussed the visit with both US President George W Bush and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. A Japanese official said the visit had been under discussion for more than a year.

North-South progress

According to the South Korean version of a joint statement issued on Friday, both sides had agreed to reconnect one railway line by the end of this year and construct a second by early next year.

Importantly, the two sides’ militaries will hold talks before work begins on 18 September.

The 4-kilometer-wide (2.5-mile-wide) demilitarized zone is heavily mined. Military co-operation is seen as a pre-requisite for the transport links, which have been cut since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, to be restored safely.

South Korea said it had agreed to send 400,000 tonnes and 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser to North Korea on credit as soon as possible.

The North’s command economy has been unable to feed its people for several years and there have been widespread reports of famine.

Mr Koizumi’s proposed visit to North Korea was apparently raised at talks in Pyongyang this week between Japanese and North Korean officials.

Japan and North Korea relations are often tense, especially over Japanese allegations that some of its nationals were kidnapped to train North Korean spies.

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Kim Jong-il rolls into Russia

Tuesday, August 20th, 2002

BBC
8/20/2002

North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong-il has begun a visit to the Russian far east.

The plane-shy leader’s private train crossed the two countries’ border at Khasan where he was met by regional officials as the train’s wheels were changed to fit the Russian gauge.

Mr Kim was accompanied by senior officials including the army’s chief of general staff, Kim Yong Chung.

He is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the region’s main city, Vladivostok, on Friday.

Russian officials reported earlier that special care had been taken to ensure the North Korean leader’s train would not snarl up rail traffic in the region after a similar visit last summer caused widespread disruption.

“The railway authorities have… given an assurance that the timetable will be drawn up so that passenger train schedules are not violated,” said Yevgeny Anoshin, a regional official in Vladivostok.

Mr Kim was due to travel on to the defence industry town of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 900 km (560 miles) to the north, after an hour’s stopover at Khasan. He is expected to visit defence plants there.

The North Korean leader earlier sent a message to Mr Putin in which he talked of the two countries’ relations entering a new phase.

Russian diplomats said the main reason for the visit was for Mr Kim to witness Russia’s experience of economic reforms.

North Korea has recently introduced a number of economic changes, including price and wage hikes. Analysts suspect the measures are designed to lift production and rein in the black market rather than a genuine reform of the state-controlled system.

North Korea has also embarked on a number of new diplomatic initiatives in recent weeks – meeting South Korean officials, planning talks with Japan and offering to host a US delegation.

Correspondents say all Pyongyang’s moves are being scrutinised to see if its often erratic behaviour can be trusted.

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