[Editorial] The train will deliver us peace and prosperity

The ground-breaking ceremony was held today for the restoration of the Kyongui railway which was severed during the Korean War,1950-53. The first scoop to spade the soil at the occasion symbolizes an openning of the road for inter-Korean peace and prosperity.

The railway and road construction through the areas of armed forces concentration on both sides of the Demilitarized Zones (DMZ) will virtually mean the removal of mine fields and iron railings along the Armistice lines.

The railway that connects Seoul with Kaesung through the DMZ and, further, to Pyongyang and Shinuijoo, will reduce the dangers of war on the peninsula as the train will mean the `delivery of peace and prosperity' for both Koreas.

The inter-Korean project to restore the Kyongui railway will bring great benefits to the two Koreas for the balaced development of the nation's economy, yet with no heavy cost.

The South Korean firms which are going to set up business in North Korea, like in Kaesung industrial complex, can reduce its freight expenses by railway below the half of the sea rates.

If the costs for the transportation of raw materials to North Korea and the delivery of their finished goods to South Korea can be lowered, the South Korean labor-intensive industries in Vietnam, Indonesia and China will quickly relocate to North Korea.

This will benefit both the North Korean economy and South Korea's declining industries.

Moreover, this will make possible to connect South Korean railways with the trans-continental railways of both China and Siberia (TRS). The prospect then is that Japan will become interested in the construction of a Korea-Japan undersea tunnel in the long run.

Closer inter-Korean military contacts are expected in the process of mutual consultations for the removal of mines in the DMZ and for the road constructions.

Mutual communications and collaborations will be indispensable for the special military engineers for mine removal and road construction engineers when they carry out their works in a close distance between them. This issue must adequately be discussed at the scheduled, inter-Korean defense ministers' meeting in Hong Kong next week.

Due attention should also be paid to some quarters of our society that tend to express their skepticism against the railway restoration, while admitting its high significance.

The national consensus and sufficient debate at the National Assembly would have made more meaningful the construction of the railway and road through the Armistice lines since they will be undertaken before the building of lasting structure of peace and easing of tensions on the peninsula.

Our regret is that the ceremony was held without the presence of the opposition party leader, and at a time when the parliament is closed. There should be adequate Assembly deliberations over those issues at the forthcoming meetings of the parliament's defense and budget committees Some people argue that the railway and road may become the North's aggression facilities, but our Defense Ministry should have given every consideration to such a possibility.

Thus, it is not desirable to make it an issue for public debate to any inordinate degree. But, it must be pointed out here that utmost precautions must be taken for the safety of our soldiers in removing mines without being unduly constrained by work schedules.

Special considerations are also in order not to make the ceremony luxurious and pompous as to require enormous expenses for the event in view of the despondence and frustrations of our farmers and fishermen in the Southern Youngnam district due to their heavy losses and damages from Tyhoon Saomai.