Скачать или смотреть Two Koreas to hold groundbreaking ceremony for joint railway and road project in N. Korea

남북, 오늘 북한 판문역서 철도•도로 착공식... 중국•러시아•몽골 및 국제기구 고위급 참석

Our top story this morning...
South and North Korea are set -- within the next few hours -- to hold their groundbreaking ceremony in North Korea... for linking and modernizing railways and roads between the two sides.
This comes eight months after the leaders of Seoul and Pyeongyang first agreed to work together on the massive project.
It wasn't exactly smooth sailing due to a lack of progress in North Korea-U.S. nuclear negotiations,... but after many twists and turns, South and North Korea are indeed due to hold this groundbreaking ceremony before we bid farewell to 2018.
We have our unification ministry correspondent Oh Jung-hee joining us live from Dorasan station, the northernmost train station in South Korea.
Jung-hee, good morning

Good morning, Mark.
So, after a number of delays and halts in this inter-Korean transport project, the groundbreaking ceremony is finally happening.
The South Koreans attending today's event left Seoul Station just 15 minutes ago.
They will pass through Dorasan Station and cross the land border... arriving at the North's Panmun Station in two hours from now... where today's groundbreaking ceremony will take place.
As you mentioned, Dorasan Station -- where I am now -- is the northernmost train station in the South, only 700 meters from the Demilitarized Zone.
And if trains really do get to move back and forth between the two Koreas, then Dorasan will be the last train station before you cross the border into the North.

And Jung-hee,... tell us more about what we can expect during today's groundbreaking ceremony.

Sure, the ceremony involves 100 participants each from South and North Korea... as well as a few from other countries, as well.
From the South, Seoul's transport and unification ministers -- Kim Hyun-mee and Cho Myoung-gyon -- will be attending, along with the leaders of South Korea's political parties, rail and road-related officials, and a few war-torn family members whose hometowns are in the North.
From North Korea, Ri Son-gwon, the head of Pyeongyang's reunification committee will be at the event, with senior North Korean officials from the economic cooperation committee and vice ministers of railway and land.

What drawing a lot of attention is those who're invited from outside the Korean Peninsula.
Top railway and road officials from Russia, China and Mongolia will be at the North's Panmun Station today.
That -- as the inter-Korean railways could eventually be linked to railways cutting across these three countries... to join the trans-Eurasian rail network in the future.
Also, the Executive Secretary of the UN's Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, will be at the event.
We're assuming her presence is because of a project called the Asian Highway Network, where UN ESCAP and countries in Asia and Europe aim to connect highways that cross the continent and reach Europe.
A couple of proposed routes pass through the two Koreas.

And Jung-hee, another thing I'm curious about... have all the matters regarding international sanctions been sorted out?
We've been reporting that waivers need to be given if any work involves bringing equipment and resources into North Korea -- whether that's for the groundbreaking ceremony or the construction work in the future.

You're absolutely right, Mark.
And for the groundbreaking ceremony today, yes that is the case.
The UN Security Council granted a sanctions waiver for the two Koreas to hold this symbolic ceremony today, according to the South Korean government.
The waiver also comes as a result of consultations between Seoul and Washington, especially through the bilateral working group meeting they had last week.
The ceremony itself isn't subject to North Korea sanctions, but waivers are required for the South Korean trains carrying the participants... and the materials necessary for the event to enter the North.

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