[FOCUS] Summit resurrects idea of building inter-Korean highway

By Lim Chang-won Posted : March 16, 2018, 18:06 Updated : March 16, 2018, 18:06

[Yonhap Photo]



SEOUL -- It has been shelved every time when tensions between South and North Korea grew, but the idea of restoring a severed cross-border traffic route came back, buoyed by an agreement to hold an inter-Korean summit in April.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un surprised the world by agreeing to hold an inter-Korean summit at the truce village of Panmunjom in the middle of the demilitarized zone which has split the Korean peninsula since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Kim's peace overture has fueled expectations on a possible inter-Korean detente as well as the resumption of stalled exchanges and trade across the border, although South Korean President Moon Jae-in was cautious about any quick rapprochement.

Korea Expressway, a state company running South Korea's toll roads, resurrected a project to build a cross-border highway linking Seoul and Pyongyang, with strong support from Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee.

Korea Expressway officials said they would bring back a team responsible for the project, which was shelved in January 2016 following North Korea's fourth nuclear test.

The two Koreas opened an inter-Korean industrial zone in Kaesong just north of the border in December 2004 as well as cross-border roads and rail tracks. Originally, the cross-border line was to be extended to Pyongyang and Sinuiju.

Reopening a cross-border route for traffic of men, vehicles and trains has been a favorite topic at previous inter-Korean talks, but North Korea has refused to cooperate for various reasons and sometimes high military tensions.

North Korea has a 168-kilometer-long expressway from Pyongyang to Kaesong, and South Korea plans to open a 36-kilometer-long highway between Seoul and the border town of Munsan in 2020. Korea Expressway hopes to build the 12-km section of a new road from Munsan up to the border.

Earlier, Korean Expressway proposed a four-lane frontline highway that could be stretched across the border to Kaesong.

Minister Kim Hyun-mee said last year that she would push for the early resumption of work on rebuilding disconnected railway lines and roads across the heavily armed border. "The restoration of disconnected railways and roads is a very important project for unification and joint prosperity of South and North Korea by linking with the continent."

In preparation for unification of the divided peninsula, South Korea has gradually rebuilt and upgraded the southern section of disconnected railways and road.

Establishing railway lines running across the Korean peninsula to link with a Eurasia railway project has been a long-cherished idea conceived by South Korean political leaders in their bid to crack open North Korea. President Moo Jae-in has also promised to connect the two Koreas by rail.
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