Two Koreas hold groundbreaking ceremony for joint railway and road project in N. Korea
- 5 years ago
Our top story this morning...
South and North Korea are set to hold their groundbreaking ceremony in North Korea... for linking and modernizing railways and roads between the two sides.
This comes eight months after the leaders of Seoul and Pyeongyang first agreed to work together on the project.
It wasn't exactly smooth sailing due to a lack of progress in the North Korea-U.S. nuclear negotiations,... but after many twists and turns, South and North Korea are indeed due to hold this groundbreaking ceremony before we bid farewell to 2018.
We have our unification ministry correspondent Oh Jung-hee joining us live from Dorasan station, the northernmost train station in South Korea.
Jung-hee, good morning
Good morning, Mark.
I'm standing at Dorasan station, just 700 meters from the Demilitarized Zone.
If trains really do get to start traveling back and forth between the two Koreas, then Dorasan will be the last train station before you cross the border into the North.
Earlier this morning, the South Koreans attending today's groundbreaking ceremony passed through this station... and are expected to have arrived at the North's Panmun Station an hour ago.
That's where today's groundbreaking ceremony will take place, from 10AM... just about now.
There are 100 participants each from South and North Korea.
From North Korea, Ri Son-gwon, the head of Pyeongyang's reunification committee is to be at the event, with senior North Korean officials from the economic cooperation committee and vice ministers of railway and land.
From the South, Seoul's transport and unification ministers -- Kim Hyun-mee and Cho Myoung-gyon -- are attending... along with the leaders of South Korea's political parties and rail and road-related officials.
A few South Koreas who lived in the North before being displaced by war have been invited as well, along with the engineer who last ran trains across the border.
Let's have a listen to what they had to say this morning.
"I'm very excited and I think I'm very lucky. There are a lot of us who had to leave our hometown. It'd be great if all of us could go and visit our hometown by train. We're all old. It's our big wish to go there by train."
"It's been ten years since I last ran trains to the North via the Gyeongui rail line. Back then, I didn't have any special thoughts, but after it was all suspended and I retired, I've been thinking 'when will I ever get to go there again.' It's great that I get to visit there again."
They must be very excited.
We're hearing that there are also participants at today's event who're from outside the Korean Peninsula.
Could you tell us about who they are?
And Jung-hee, does their presence mean that this massive transport project could begin right away?
Mark, to answer your first question...
Yes, top railway and road officials from Russia, China and Mongolia will be at the groundbreaking ceremony today.
That -- as the inter-Korean railways could eventually be linked to railways cutting across t
South and North Korea are set to hold their groundbreaking ceremony in North Korea... for linking and modernizing railways and roads between the two sides.
This comes eight months after the leaders of Seoul and Pyeongyang first agreed to work together on the project.
It wasn't exactly smooth sailing due to a lack of progress in the North Korea-U.S. nuclear negotiations,... but after many twists and turns, South and North Korea are indeed due to hold this groundbreaking ceremony before we bid farewell to 2018.
We have our unification ministry correspondent Oh Jung-hee joining us live from Dorasan station, the northernmost train station in South Korea.
Jung-hee, good morning
Good morning, Mark.
I'm standing at Dorasan station, just 700 meters from the Demilitarized Zone.
If trains really do get to start traveling back and forth between the two Koreas, then Dorasan will be the last train station before you cross the border into the North.
Earlier this morning, the South Koreans attending today's groundbreaking ceremony passed through this station... and are expected to have arrived at the North's Panmun Station an hour ago.
That's where today's groundbreaking ceremony will take place, from 10AM... just about now.
There are 100 participants each from South and North Korea.
From North Korea, Ri Son-gwon, the head of Pyeongyang's reunification committee is to be at the event, with senior North Korean officials from the economic cooperation committee and vice ministers of railway and land.
From the South, Seoul's transport and unification ministers -- Kim Hyun-mee and Cho Myoung-gyon -- are attending... along with the leaders of South Korea's political parties and rail and road-related officials.
A few South Koreas who lived in the North before being displaced by war have been invited as well, along with the engineer who last ran trains across the border.
Let's have a listen to what they had to say this morning.
"I'm very excited and I think I'm very lucky. There are a lot of us who had to leave our hometown. It'd be great if all of us could go and visit our hometown by train. We're all old. It's our big wish to go there by train."
"It's been ten years since I last ran trains to the North via the Gyeongui rail line. Back then, I didn't have any special thoughts, but after it was all suspended and I retired, I've been thinking 'when will I ever get to go there again.' It's great that I get to visit there again."
They must be very excited.
We're hearing that there are also participants at today's event who're from outside the Korean Peninsula.
Could you tell us about who they are?
And Jung-hee, does their presence mean that this massive transport project could begin right away?
Mark, to answer your first question...
Yes, top railway and road officials from Russia, China and Mongolia will be at the groundbreaking ceremony today.
That -- as the inter-Korean railways could eventually be linked to railways cutting across t