Koreas hold symbolic ceremony for railway, road project

By Sena Guler</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – The two Koreas on Wednesday held a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for an inter-Korean railway and highway project.</p> <p>“The ceremony started at Panmun Station in the North's border town of Kaesong at around 10 a.m. [0100GMT] with high-ranking officials from the two Koreas on hand,” the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported.</p> <p>Some 100 South Koreans, including Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee and Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, had arrived at the station via a special train ahead of the ceremony, it added.</p> <p>The event was also attended by officials from the UN, China, Russia and Mongolia.</p> <p>“The groundbreaking ceremony is regarded to be a symbolic launch of the road and railway project, not an actual start of construction considering the ongoing denuclearization talks and existing multilayered sanctions on North Korea,” Yonhap reported.</p> <p>South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met on April 27, followed by the signing of the historic Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, which has become a formal foundation for further denuclearization of North Korea and a peace deal between the two countries.</p> <p>During a September summit, Moon and Kim agreed to a series of cooperation initiatives, including connecting roads and railways, seeking to jointly host the 2032 Olympics, and establishing a new facility for family reunions.