Print

Mail

wiki links

N Korea cool on train tests

South Korea yesterday failed to persuade North Korea to renew its commitment to test runs of a cross-border train service that the communist country abruptly canceled last month.

A joint statement adopted at the end of inter-Korean economic talks did not include a revival of the train plans, which were a high-profile part of efforts toward reconciliation between the Cold War rivals.

But, in a move seen as increasing pressure on its neighbor, Seoul made the train test runs a precondition for further economic aid.

South Korea pledged to provide raw materials to the North to help it produce clothes, shoes and soap as part of an accord reached last year, but only when the "right conditions are created," according to the statement adopted at the South's southern island of Jeju.

The "right conditions" would be when the train test runs take place, South Korean spokesman Kim Chun-sig told reporters.

"Without the railway test runs, there won't be any provision of raw materials for the North's light industries," Kim said. "This kind of agreement is more powerful than simply setting a date" for the tests, he said.

In a separate document, the South said it would provide the North US$80 million worth of raw materials this year in exchange for rights to invest in North Korean mining operations for development of mineral resources.

The document said Seoul would begin shipments of the materials in August, which indicates the railway tests should be conducted before then, Kim explained.

The trial runs scheduled last month would have been the first time trains crossed the frontier in more than half a century.
This story has been viewed 1055 times.