South Korea and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) began talks Tuesday to discuss ways to connect and modernize inter-Korean railways. Delegations from the two sides kicked off the talks at about 10:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) as scheduled at Peace House, a South Korean building in the border village of Panmunjom, according to a pool report. It was aimed to discuss the connection of railways along the eastern and western corridors across the two Koreas and the modernization of the DPRKs railways. The three-member South Korean delegation was led by Kim Jeong-ryeol, second vice minister for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Vice Railroad Minister Kim Yun Hyok led the three-member delegation from Pyongyang. The South Korean chief delegate told reporters before heading to the dialogue venue that he would discuss with his DPRK counterpart necessary issues for the inter-Korean railway connection and modernization. He said that despite international sanctions on the DPRK over its nuclear and missile programs, the two sides can discuss preparations for the railway connection, which can be made after the sanctions are lifted. Xinhua
