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Freight train run unites two Koreas
Associated Press
Published December 12, 2007
DORASAN STATION, South Korea - North and South Korea began regular freight train service across their heavily armed border Tuesday for the first time in more than a half century, another symbolic step toward their reconciliation. The 12-car train carried construction materials to a North Korean border station, and then returned home carrying shoes, underwear and other items produced at a South-North joint industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Kaesong. The service is one of the tangible results of an October summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun that outlined a series of joint projects. It comes months after a test run of passenger trains on two reconnected tracks on the western and eastern sides of the peninsula. The freight train is to make a 10-mile round trip every weekday to North Korea. South Korea hopes the inter-Korean railway will ultimately be linked through North Korea to Russia's Trans-Siberian railroad and allow an overland route connecting to Europe - significantly cutting delivery times for freight that now requires sea transport. "Though we start with a cargo train, it will lead to a passenger train service and will soon be linked to the continental trains," said Lee Chul, president of Korea Railroad.
[Last modified December 12, 2007, 01:27:02]
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