Kyongui Railway reconnection unlikely within the year

Unification minister Lim Dong-Won said Friday that the North Korean work for restoring the Kyongui (Seoul-Shinuiju) railway had been interrupted and that if the project was suspended for more than a month, the full reconnection of the inter-Korean railway would be impossible within this year.

At a meeting of the National Assembly Special Committee on South-North Korean Relations, the minister stated that the government had envisioned the restoration of the railway by this fall, but owing to the North`s suspension of the work, the schedule had been delayed. He added that if the North started the project next month, the railway would be able to be opened within the year.

Disclosing that the North needs 1.8 million tons of fertilizer this year, but its production capacity is less than 800,000 tons to 900,000 tons, minister Lim also said that the South`s fertilizer aid would be necessary in future years as well as this year.

Meanwhile, the minister went on to say that he had received a report that the two Koreas, at working-level talks, had discussed a plan to open Kaesong in the North to the foreign tourists who will visit Korea on the occasion of the 2002 World Cup. The program would be promoted in association with other inter-Korean tourism programs.