The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Paju

The two Koreas on Tuesday started their first regular train service since the 1950-1953 war by sending freight cars across their heavily armed border for a run hailed as a milestone in reconcili-ation.The South has been pushing to re-open the rail link cut for more than half a century so it could shuttle goods to an industrial park it operates just inside the North where its manufacturing companies have access to cheap labor and land. A 12-car train operated by a South Korean conductor and carrying raw materials for shoes crossed the border into the North and was expected to return later on Tuesday, South Korea's Unification Ministry said. The freight service will be daily along on a route of some 20 km (12.5 miles). The two agreed to regular train service at a meeting of their leaders in October. South Korea had restored tracks across the landmine strewn border but had struggled to win approval from the isolated North, nervous of any contact with the outside world, in order to resume a train service.