ROK, DPRK agree to conduct joint study on connecting railways over border

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed Tuesday to conduct a joint study on connecting and modernizing railways over their border in a bid to implement the Panmunjom Declaration signed by their leaders in April.

The agreement came after delegates from the two sides held talks at the border village of Panmunjom. After the talks, the two Koreas announced a joint statement.

Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to form a joint team to conduct research on connecting and modernizing railways over the border. The joint team will launch an on-spot investigation on July 24 into the DPRK railway along the western corridor.

After that, the team will conduct a study on DPRK railway along the eastern corridor at an earliest possible date.

Meanwhile, research work on railways linking the ROK and the DPRK railways will be carried out first along the western corridor in mid-July, then along the eastern corridor.

The two sides agreed to jointly come up with concrete measures, such as construction and designing, to modernize and connect railways at a high level.

More details will be discussed through the exchange of letters using the Panmunjom communications channel.

The joint railway project between the two Koreas is aimed to implement the Panmunjom Declaration, which ROK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un signed after their first summit meeting on April 27 at Panmunjom.

Other working-level talks about road and forest cooperation are scheduled to be held later this week and early next week, respectively, to implement the Panmunjom Declaration.