S. Korea pushing to restart inter-Korean railway construction

정부, 남북철도 재추진…"동해북부선 예비타당성 면제 계획"The government is pushing to restart an inter-Korean cooperative project.Such cross-border collaborations have been stalled for more than a year as ties deteriorated.But with a new-look parliament, Seoul is optimistic of a new momentum.Kim Ji-yeon has the full story.The South Korean government says it'll restart the construction of railways in South Korea... as part of the inter-Korean railway project along the east coast... now over a year after since the project stalled.This would connect the South Korean city of Gangneung to Jejin station, near the North Korean border,... which was part of an agreement between the leaders of the two Koreas at their summit in April 2018... to link their severed railways.The Unification Ministry says it plans to hold an event at Jejin Station next Monday to commemorate the second anniversary of that summit."Through the event, the government will push for the reconnection of the railways... in view of the significance of the second anniversary of the Panmunjeom Declaration and its impact in boosting local economic activity."The Ministry of Unification said a civilian-government committee on inter-Korean exchanges will meet this Thursday to come up with plans... to facilitate the cross-border railway connection.This includes a legal exemption to pave the way for a preliminary feasibility study of the project,... a move the ministry says would enable the envisioned railway to be built more quickly.South Korean experts and officials have visited the construction site several times before,... but there has yet to be an actual construction... amid the stall in denuclearization talks between Pyeongyang and Washington and the international sanctions placed on the North Korean regime.However, President Moon Jae-in's special advisor for diplomatic affairs, Moon Chung-in, said at a roundtable discussion that he remains optimistic that inter-Korean talks will resume once the coronavirus outbreak eases... in May or June.Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.