The significance of the Kyongui railway

It will be a total of barely 20 km long. But the agreement to rebuild the Kyongui Railway, which was severed with the division of the Korean peninsula, has a significance that reaches far beyond the obvious economic result of securing a land route and gateway into the vast continent beyond North Korea.

The two Koreas agreed to reconnect the 12 km of Southern railroad linking Munsan and Changdan with the Northern 8 km linking Changdan and Pongdong. The two countries are expected to launch the restoration project in the very near future, as the length of the railway is short and construction will be fairly simple. The Seoul government, which in 1997 purchased the territory stretching from Munsan to Changdan, said that it can begin construction as early as October.

The government forecast that restoring the railways will take an estimated 19 months for the southern section and three years for the northern section. With no foreseeable obstacles, the completion of the project is slated for 2003.

The government estimated that the reconstruction venture will cost a total of 14.45 billion won. The southern section is expected to cost 50.9 billion won, and the northern section 93.6 billion. The National Railway Administration said that it will request 10 billion won from the government`s budget for next year to launch the reconstruction project. The two sides will work out further details at the second round of inter-Korean ministerial talks to be held in Pyongyang next month.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation, which is expected to lead the project, has already completed a blueprint for the reconnection of the railways. The outline has reportedly already set the parameters for the timing of the project, its costs and its operation.

Once the Kyungui Railway is rebuilt, the North can reap an estimated $100 million from fares. Experts projected that the two Koreas can also save $ 24¡­52 million in transportation costs annually.

When the railway is completed, the government said that it has plans to improve North Korea¡¯s railway signaling system, replace dilapidated tracks with new ones and boost related facilities.

To this end, the ministry has already counseled the Korea Railway Technology Research Institute on how an integrated inter-Korean railway should be operated.

However, the ministry forecast that the restoration of North Korea`s rundown railways will cost around 1.2 trillion won over a four-year period. Meanwhile, the connection of the Kyungui Railway represents more than the integration of the inter-Korean rail system. It also means that the two Koreas, especially the South, will secure a gateway to the Asian continent, bringing closer to reality the construction of a Eurasian railway linking Busan,

Seoul, Pyongyang, and Sinuiju with cities in China, Russia and Europe.