Gyeongui Railway, Highway to open next Sept.

The government plans to complete the restoration of the Seoul-Sinuiju Railroad and a four-lane highway to link the two Koreas by early September next year.

The government is aiming to start the projects around September 14. To facilitate personnel and material exchanges between the South and the North, the government decided to relink the Gyeongui Railway and to build a new highway in a meeting to promote inter-Korean economic cooperation Thursday.

According to the plan, a new four-lane motorway will be build along the Gyeongui Line, detouring the existing Road No. 1 in the 6km-long Tongil Bridge-Jangdan Station (military demarcation line) area south of the Gyeongui Line. The government plans to secure land later to expand the number of lanes to eight.

North Korea will take charge of restoring the 12km-long Jangdan-Gaeseong section north of Gyeongui. The route of the road North Korea will construct has yet to be confirmed, but it is likely to be constructed along the Gyeongui Line.

The railroad to be restored will have a single track stretching 24km, and will connect Munsan, Imjin River Bridge, Jangdan, Bongdong and Gaeseong.

The government plans to discuss the construction of a railroad station at the place where the South and North Korean railroads meet, inspection procedures for passengers and cargo and operation of trains with the North during the second inter-Korean ministerial-level conference slated to open in Pyeongyang August 29.