President Park Geun-hye has emphasized the need to create a nation that can contribute to global peace and prosperity by reconnecting the railway between South and North Korea and that can turn all of Eurasia into one continent that symbolizes peace and creativity. She was speaking in a video during the celebration of the "2015 Eurasia Friendship Express," held at Seoul Station on July 14.
President Park sent an encouraging message to the team that will cross some six Asian and European countries over the next 20 days via trans-continental rain travel, starting in Seoul. In the video, President Park stressed the importance of unification on the Korean Peninsula as well as the role that a unified Korea would play in the success of the region. She said that, "You are about to start an expedition that will take 20 days and cover 14,400 kilometers, covering one third of the Earth's total surface. You are making an effort to end the 70-year history of separation and move into a future of unification by creating connections with the gigantic Eurasian mega-continent."
The team consists of 250 people who beat 11-1 odds against to be selected for the expedition. Team members include people who can speak languages of the countries through which they will travel, artists, Korean patriots who participated in the independence movement or their descendants, Koreans who worked as nurses or miners in Germany and university students. The members are from a diverse range of backgrounds, but have been brought together for the goal of realizing their dream of Korean unification and in bringing about world peace. With that goal in mind, they will cross mainland China, Russia, Mongolia, Belarus and Poland via the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR), Trans-China Railway (TCR) and Trans-Mongolian Railway (TMGR), before arriving in Berlin.
The team has been divided into two halves. One will head for Vladivostok and another to Beijing, as it's not yet possible to pass by train through the northern parts of the peninsula. On July 21, the two teams will be united in Irkutsk, Russia.
While making stops at 10 cities in six countries, the expedition is set to attend seminars on history and to cooperate on building transportation links and attending musical performances and events to celebrate diplomatic ties between Seoul and those countries. Key events include an academic seminar in Beijing on July 15, visiting the Ussuriysk memorial in Vladivostok on July 15, a musical performance in Khabarovsk on July 16, exploring public healthcare system in Ulaanbaatar on July 17, a "Eurasian festival" in Irkutsk on July 21, a seminar on rail transportation in Novosibirsk on July 23, a celebration to mark their half-way point in Yekaterinburg on July 25, a celebration in Moscow on July 28 to honor the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Seoul and Moscow, a seminar on how Korea can learn and share the historical experiences of both Germany and Poland in Warsaw on July 30 and, finally, the itinerary includes a march in Berlin on July 31.
By Lee Seung-ah
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photo: Korail
slee27@korea.kr
President Park sent an encouraging message to the team that will cross some six Asian and European countries over the next 20 days via trans-continental rain travel, starting in Seoul. In the video, President Park stressed the importance of unification on the Korean Peninsula as well as the role that a unified Korea would play in the success of the region. She said that, "You are about to start an expedition that will take 20 days and cover 14,400 kilometers, covering one third of the Earth's total surface. You are making an effort to end the 70-year history of separation and move into a future of unification by creating connections with the gigantic Eurasian mega-continent."
The celebration of the 2015 Eurasia Friendship Express is held at Seoul Station on July 14. The expedition crosses some six Asian and European countries over the next 20 days.
The celebration is attended by Cho Tae-yong (third from right), first vice minister of foreign affairs, and Choi Yeon-hye (fourth from left), CEO of Korail, among others.
The team consists of 250 people who beat 11-1 odds against to be selected for the expedition. Team members include people who can speak languages of the countries through which they will travel, artists, Korean patriots who participated in the independence movement or their descendants, Koreans who worked as nurses or miners in Germany and university students. The members are from a diverse range of backgrounds, but have been brought together for the goal of realizing their dream of Korean unification and in bringing about world peace. With that goal in mind, they will cross mainland China, Russia, Mongolia, Belarus and Poland via the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR), Trans-China Railway (TCR) and Trans-Mongolian Railway (TMGR), before arriving in Berlin.
The team has been divided into two halves. One will head for Vladivostok and another to Beijing, as it's not yet possible to pass by train through the northern parts of the peninsula. On July 21, the two teams will be united in Irkutsk, Russia.
The team taking part in the '2015 Eurasia Friendship Express' will make stops in 10 cities along the way over the next 20 days.
While making stops at 10 cities in six countries, the expedition is set to attend seminars on history and to cooperate on building transportation links and attending musical performances and events to celebrate diplomatic ties between Seoul and those countries. Key events include an academic seminar in Beijing on July 15, visiting the Ussuriysk memorial in Vladivostok on July 15, a musical performance in Khabarovsk on July 16, exploring public healthcare system in Ulaanbaatar on July 17, a "Eurasian festival" in Irkutsk on July 21, a seminar on rail transportation in Novosibirsk on July 23, a celebration to mark their half-way point in Yekaterinburg on July 25, a celebration in Moscow on July 28 to honor the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Seoul and Moscow, a seminar on how Korea can learn and share the historical experiences of both Germany and Poland in Warsaw on July 30 and, finally, the itinerary includes a march in Berlin on July 31.
By Lee Seung-ah
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photo: Korail
slee27@korea.kr