Two Koreas start joint railway inspection

A ceremony was held at Dorasan Station south of the border Friday morning, before the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s train carrying 28 delegates departed for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at around 9 a.m.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon vowed to ensure the groundbreaking ceremony for the project takes place within the year's end, as agreed by the leaders of the two Koreas.

The two Koreas plan to conduct a survey of a 400 kilometer section of rail between Kaesong and Sinuiju between November 30th and December 5th, as part of plans to connect and modernize the Gyeongui railway line.

Joint inspections of an 800-kilometer long area between Mount Kumgang and the Tumen River will then be conducted from December 8th to 17th.

The inspection would be a part of efforts to implement the Pyongyang Declaration, which RoK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un signed at their third summit in the DPRK's capital.

The two leaders agreed to hold a ground-breaking ceremony within this year in a bid to modernize and eventually connect railways across the border along the eastern and western coasts of the Korean Peninsula./.