Seoul pays 80 million dollars for train to north
After blocking the project without giving any explanation on 25 May, Pyongyang has accepted to resume direct train links. The decision springs from a nine-point economic agreement.
Sogwipo (AsiaNews/KT) South Korean authorities have agreed to provide million worth of "materials" to the northern part of the peninsula on condition that works resume on a cross-border railway. The agreement was signed yesterday in Sogwipo, on Cheju island, but it was only today that its nine points were made public.
However, the agreement will become effective only when there is a "real and effective commitment to improve train links across the border". Seoul "accepts that the Stalinist military will guarantee the safety of cross-border journeys."
Kim Chun-sig, spokesman for the South Korean delegation, said at the end of the talks: "If we do not see results, we cannot accept to start any commercial exchange."
This was a reference to 25 May, the date when the first train test runs should have taken place, but were unilaterally blocked by Pyongyang without any explanation given. Some analysts said the move was intended to be a "way to get more economic aid out of the South Korean government".
Significant provisions in the nine points agreed by the two nations include greater collaboration between Seoul and Pyongyang in the textile and shoe industries, as well as extraction techniques and improving the mining sector in the north.
According to the agreement, said "both sides of the Korean peninsula would continue discussions on ways to cooperate with a third country": the North Koreans have proposed that Seoul "invests together with its government in its wood and coal export to Russia". In any case, any such decisions will be taken during the next meeting, set to be held in September in Pyongyang.
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