An unprecedented trial run of a cross-border railway between the two Koreas has been unilaterally called off by North Korea. A South Korean government official said the North delivered the message by phone that it is cancelling plans for trial runs along the Gyeongui and Donghae lines which were scheduled for Thursday.
There has been no explanation for the North's change in stance. The two railway lines which have been closed for half a century cross the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas. Conducting a trial run was agreed in high-level military talks last week and more than a hundred people from each side were expected to take part in the ceremony that would have symbolized a warming of cross-border relations.
