East Coast roadway field review takes place for three days

South and North Koreas will launch preliminary field reviews on the East Coast roadway that will connect both countries. The event, which was initially planned as a field inspection prior to the ground breaking ceremony on Dec. 26, had been changed to a field review when it turned out inspections were not feasible. The event, however, has been criticized as a "show," as the attendees to the event did not prepare any tools for the review.

According to a Ministry of Unification announcement on Dec. 20, the North and the South will launch a four-day review for the interconnecting road that will stretch 100 kilometers from Goseong to Wonsan. From South Korea’s side, about 10 experts from the Ministries of Unification; Land, Infrastructure and Transport; and the private sector will attend the event. A similar number will be represented from the North. Both sides agreed to “perform joint field inspections prior to ground breaking ceremony” at high-level talks held on October 15. Though field inspections for the Gyeongui roadway and railway took place, the same event did not materialize for the East Coast railway. Some criticized the absence of the event as not even checking the actual site before the ceremony.

The event eventually took place in the form of field review, but it appears to be far from a thorough inspection. Contrary to the Unification Ministry’s announcement that the inspection would take a week, the review will last for only four days. The inspectors will not even need tools because it appears that we have not been able to obtain necessary approvals from the North.

As a separate project, the additional inspection to build the Gyeongui roadway in the four-kilometer section in the Kaesong region will take place on Dec. 24. “It will be done as a separate project from the ground breaking ceremony on Dec. 26 to build the Panmun station in Kaesong,” said a Unification Ministry official.


In-Chan Hwang hic@donga.com