A commuter train rolls into a railway station in Shintan-ri, a border village northeast of Seoul.[Yonhap News Photo]
SEOUL, Jan. 05 (Aju News) -- South Korea is ready to resume a stalled project aimed at rebuilding a disconnected railway line that once ran across the heavily armed inter-Korean border up to the northeastern port city of Wonsan in North Korea, officials said.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is waiting for a suitable time after completing preparations for the resumption of its work to restore the final 9.7-kilometer (60 miles) section that would run from a station in Cheorwon, a border town northeast of Seoul, to a military-controlled place within North Korea's firing range.
"If the inter-Korean situation improves, the resumption of construction is possible at any time," a ministry official said, adding the government extended the deadline for one year and increased the cost from 157.6 billion won (148 million US dollars) to 179.1 billion won.
The project was initiated on August 5, 2015, for completion in December last year, but construction was suspended in May 2016 due to high cross-border tensions and delays in the purchase of land.
"We are ready to resume construction at any time because the purchase of land, a stumbling block, and design have been almost completed." another ministry official said.
Minister Kim Hyun-mee said last year that she would push for the early resumption of work on rebuilding the railway line. "The restoration of disconnected railways and roads is a very important project for unification and joint prosperity of South and North Korea by linking with the continent."
The 224-kilometer Gyeongwon railway line from Seoul to Wonsan was severely damaged during the 1950-53 Korean War, along with another line that once ran from the North's northwestern border city of Sinuiju to Seoul.
In preparation for unification of the divided peninsula, South Korea has gradually rebuilt and upgraded the southern section of disconnected railroads. However, work on the Gyeongwon line has been on and off, resulting in an operation line just up to Baengmagoji Station in Cheorwon.
President Moo Jae-in has also promised to connect the two Koreas by rail across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which has split the peninsula since the Korean War ended in 1953 with no peace treaty signed.
Establishing railway lines running across the Korean peninsula to link with a Eurasia railway project has been a long-cherished idea conceived by South Korean political leaders in their bid to crack open North Korea.
The two Koreas opened an inter-Korean industrial zone in Kaesong just north of the border in December 2004 as well as cross-border roads and rail tracks. Originally, the cross-border line was to be extended to Pyongyang and Sinuiju, or even to China's railway system, but North Korea has refused to cooperate due to high military tensions.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
