Russia, DPRK and ROK to Hold Railway Summit

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, November 06, 2002

Russia, DPRK and ROK to Hold Railway Summit

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Staff Writer Russia and both Koreas will meet in Vladivostok later this month for the first Cabinet-level talks on linking the Trans-Korean and Trans-Siberian railroads, Railways Minister Gennady Fadeyev said Tuesday.

Fresh off a five-day visit to Pyongyang at the invitation of DPRK leader Kim Jong II, Fadeyev said the historic project to link South Korea's deepwater port of Pusan to Europe by rail is at the stage where tough negotiations need to begin to move it forward.

Fadeyev said that many issues remain unresolved but he expects the meeting in Vladivostok to move the ambitious project "toward the next level."

By helping create a cheaper and quicker alternative -- a rail corridor north to the Trans-Siberian -- Russia could earn more than a billion dollars a year in transit fees.

DPRK has yet to make a decision on an exact route for the rail link or which gauge of track to use. Russia uses a wider gauge than South Korea and Europe, but it is urging Pyongyang, which wants a combined gauge, to opt for the narrow gauge.

If DPRK opts for the narrow gauge, then the project could be completed within three years, Fadeyev said, adding that a combined gauge would take three to four times longer.

Another issue being debated is where to relink the northern and southern sections of the Trans-Korean, which was divided during the Korean War.

Fadeyev said the route proposed by DPRK specialists will run mainly through tourist areas along the Sea of Japan and bypass major industrial centers. This route would require laying 130 kilometers of new track, almost all in South Korea.

One point that all parties agree on is the need to create an international consortium to finance the plan, an idea that has caught the attention of the region's two largest exporters, China and Japan.

Source: Agencies

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