South Korea: North appears to be
resuming work on rail link restoration
By Jim Lea, Stars and Stripes
North Korea appears to be resuming efforts on its side of the Demilitarized Zone to
restore the rail link between the two Koreas, officials in Seoul said Friday.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said North Korean soldiers have been observed setting up
what appears to be a construction camp north of the demarcation line.
A spokesman for the Korean National Railroad said 56 percent of the work on the South
Korean side has been finished.
Restoring the rail link and building a four-lane highway was part of an agreement
following last year’s historic Inter-Korean Summit. Work began in the fall, but it
was halted for the winter in October. The work was resumed in March on the South Korean
side of the buffer zone, but not on the northern side.
In April, a construction camp that had been established near the North’s work site
was dismantled and troops left the area. Since the North had cut off all official contact
with the South in April because of Washington’s approach toward Pyongyang, South
Korean officials expressed concern that the North may be preparing to cancel the rail
project.
The $95 million rail and highway project originally was to be completed by November.
South Korean officials say that goal cannot be met.
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