The 2018 Inter-Korean Summit has led to growing interest in a high-speed railway connecting South and North Korea. Moon Jong-mook, director of the Pan-Citizen Measure Committee for Nurturing the KTX Gwangmyeong Eurasia Departure Station, holds up a virtual train ticket on Dec. 31, 2017. (Gwangmyeong City)
By Kim Tae Won and Hahm Hee-eun
With the success of the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit, expectations for an inter-Korean and trans-Eurasian railway are now rising concomitantly.
In the Panmunjeom Declaration, the two Korean leaders agreed to "practical measures to connect and modernize the Donghae and Gyeongui railways and roads," and virtual train tickets for a train that would connect the Korean Peninsula to Russia and to Europe is already popular on Korean social media.
Starting on Dec. 31 last year, it has been possible to show your support for the idea of a connected train network by "reserving" a virtual ticket on the Gwangmyeong-Paris Eurasia Continental Railway. The online campaign is being led by Gwangmyeong City in Gyeonggi-do Province and has attracted quite a lot of online attention, so far. Online virtual train tickets dated Jan. 1, 2022, that start at the KTX Gwangmyeong Station and run to Pyeongyang and then onward to Moscow and Paris have been distributed to more than 30,000 people so far.
The Russian TV station Channel 1 reports on the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit and the possibility of building a railway across the Korean Peninsula to the Russian Far East. (Channel 1)
Russia is also showing great interest in helping to connect an inter-Korean railway.
Russia's Channel 1 announced on the Saturday Vesti News show that, "Korean goods will pass through North Korea and Khasan Station in Primorsky Krai, which is the starting point of the Trans-Siberian Railway," and added that, “The connected railway will be a huge benefit for Russia and Europe," on April 28.
The Russian newspaper Komersant also said in an article on April 27 under the headline “Peace on Korean Peninsula has come half-way” that, "The most important part of the Panmunjeom Declaration for Russia is the resumption of an inter-Korean railway connection." The article further said that, "The Eurasian Railway is the first step toward unification in Korea. For Russia, it will be a good way to guarantee cargo transportation between Korea and the Pacific coast."
twkim0717@korea.kr
