By Kim Tae Won and Yoon Sojung

South Korea has become an official member of the Organization for Co-operation Between Railways (OSJD), laying the foundation for the country to connect to train networks in Russia, Mongolia, Central Asia, China and elsewhere.

The recent development was attributed to the unanimous support from all OSJD member countries.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on June 7 that the participants at the 46th ministerial meeting reached an agreement on the issue of accepting the Republic of Korea’s membership of the organization. The four-day meeting took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, over four days starting on July 5.

The OSJD was established in 1956 to manage international railroad traffic between Europe and Asia. Currently, the organization has 28 official members. They are generally located along Central Asian and mainland Chinese train networks, as well as the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Seoul has been trying to join the organization since 2015, but has failed due to objections from Pyeongyang.

However, thanks to the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit on Apr. 27 where the two Korean leaders discussed cooperation on railway networks, Seoul’s efforts have paid off and Pyeongyang expressed its approval.

The ministry said, “Seoul’s OSJD membership lays the international foundation for connecting our railways to railway networks across Eurasia.”

“Further advancement, such as economic cooperation on inter-Korean relations, will bring bigger effects on Seoul’s OSJD membership,” said the ministry.

twkim0717@korea.kr