Reuters AlertNet Lite - Two Koreas to start cargo trains by year-end

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Two Koreas to start cargo trains by year-end

15 Nov 2007 07:10:45 GMT
Source: Reuters

SEOUL, Nov 15 (Reuters) - North and South Korea agreed on Thursday to set up their first regular freight train service over the heavily armed border in more than half a century.

South Korea has been pushing to restore rail links that had been cut by the 1950-1953 Korean War so it could shuttle items to an industrial park it operates just north of the border where its companies use cheap North Korean labour and land to make goods.

The agreement to run regular freight trains later this year came at a meeting of prime ministers from the two states, technically still at war, being held in Seoul, a South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman said.

"We are currently discussing the specific timing," Kim Nam-sik told reporters without elaborating on what "regular" meant.

Last month, the two Koreas agreed at only the second summit of their leaders to start a cargo service between the industrial park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, about 70 kms (45 miles) northwest of Seoul, and South Korea.

The meeting of the premiers, which is the first in 15 years, runs through Friday and is aimed at implementing pledges made at the summit, including the South's plan for a massive aid package to develop the North's dilapidated infrastructure.

South Korea's rail chief said last month that his engineers are ready to roll freight trains across the border any time, and the services will sharply cut costs for South Korean businesses operating in Kaesong and help reduce military tension.

North Korea earlier this year allowed a highly symbolic but only one-off crossing of trains at two places where the South punched holes in the barbed wire and land mine strewn border to run tracks into North Korea. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Sanjeev Miglani)

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Last updated:Thu Nov 15 07:10:25 2007