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Trains from North and South Korea crossed the Demilitarized Zone on Thursday for the first time in more than 50 years. The train from South Korea carried 150 passengers from both sides including South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung and Senior North Korean Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho-ung. It left Munsan Station on the Gyeongui Line at 11:28 a.m., crossed the DMZ at 12:18 p.m. and arrived at Kaesong Station at 1:03 p.m. The North Korean train left Mt. Kumgang Station on the Donghae Line, crossed the DMZ at 12:21 p.m. and arrived at Jejin Station at 12:34 p.m. The Gyeongui Line was reconnected 56 years since it was severed on June 12, 1951, while the Donghae Line was reconnected for the first time since 1950.
In a ceremony for the Gyeongui Line, the unification minister said, "I hope laying a comprehensive logistical network linking the entire Korean Peninsula will contribute to forming a joint economic community and establishing a permanent peace framework." At a luncheon in Kaesong, Kwon Ho-ung hailed the reconnection by Koreans of railways ¡°disconnected by outside forces.¡± ¡°We must not run off these tracks,¡± he added.
Around 12:13 p.m., when the train was approaching the DMZ, Uri Party Rep. Bae Ki-sun, who was on board, called for a song to mark the historic moment. The South Korean dignitaries on the train obliged, waving small flags emblazoned with an image of the Korean Peninsula and sang "Our Wish Is National Unification." Kwon merely looked out of the window.
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South Korean soldiers open a gate near Dorasan Station in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, to allow an inter-Korean train to pass through on Thursday. Test runs were conducted on the Gyeongui and Donghae cross-border railway lines on Thursday. /Yonhap
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Toy guns spewed colorful paper tape and white balloons floated into the sky when the train left Munsan. Many had come to wave at the train from the side of the tracks or overpasses. Young people took pictures with their camera phones, and some flashed a thumbs-up in the direction of the train. A North Korean official seemed taken aback, saying, "Why are they taking so much interest?" On the North Korean side, by contrast, small clusters of people merely watched the train pass. Nobody waved. The only welcoming event was held when the train arrived at Kaesong Station, where about 100 ninth graders from Seonjuk Middle School shouted the slogan "Reunification of the Fatherland!" lining both sides of the station.
The South Korean government and ruling camp attach great importance to the event. They predict reconciliation efforts will gain momentum in its wake and expect it to send a message to the world that tension is being reduced on the Korean Peninsula. But nobody knows when the trains will resume regular service. Thursday's test runs came a full seven years after the two sides agreed to reconnect the Gyeongui Line at the first round of the inter-Korean ministerial talks held in July 2000. The test runs are a one-off event. Seoul is pushing for the reconnection of more railway sections and regular operation of trains, but there has been no reaction from Pyongyang.
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High school students hold signs in support of reunification in front of Munsan Station on Thursday, as trains crossed between the two Koreas on test-runs on the Gyeongui and Donghae lines. /Yonhap
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South Korean officials do not deny that the test run was effectively bought with a decision to give North Korea 400,000 tons of rice and US$80 million worth of light industry raw materials. The North Korean military reportedly still doesn't like the reconnection of the railways. Last year, it called off a test run only a day before the scheduled date. Talks between brass from the two sides did not go smoothly either. A total of W545.4 billion (US$1=W928) was spent to reconnect the railways. Many predict it will cost a lot more money to arouse North Korea¡¯s interest in regular operations of the trains.
There still is a long way to go before the inter-Korean railways go commercial, even if North Korea changes its mind. North and South Koreas have different gauges and the North Korean railways are obsolete. It would cost an astronomical amount of money to start a regular service. Some South Korean officials estimate it would cost at least W3 trillion to modernize the North Korean railways ? a figure which has led to predictions that it would take at least 20 years until regular inter-Korean railway traffic, even if the two Koreas agree.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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