News Item - Cargo trains begin between Koreas

For the first time in more than 50 years, regular cargo trains have begun running between the two Koreas. The freight train will run each weekday between the South Korean border and the North Korean city of Kaesong.

The two countries have established a free enterprise zone in Kaesong, where now more than 60 South Korean companies operate factories, capitalizing on cheap labor in the North. The regular train service is the result of a summit between the two nations aimed at normalizing relations.

South Korea hopes that a rail link can be established through North Korea to join up with the Trans-Siberian Railroad at the Russian border. A rail link would allow South Korea to shave weeks off transporting goods to markets in Europe, goods that currently must travel by ship.