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Koreas sign rail link pact

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Sept. 13. The inter-Korean initiatives towards an eventual reunification of the two divided parts of the peninsula has received a fresh impetus.

The representatives of the United Nations Command in Korea and the North Korean People's Army signed a key technical agreement on Thursday.

According to the South Korean defence authorities, the U.N.-North Korean accord would help facilitate the construction of a rail-and-road link across the demilitarised zone.

This would restore the "transportation corridor'' that has remained abandoned since the end of the Korean war nearly 50 years ago.

Maj. Gen. James Soligan of the U.N. Command in Korea and Gen. Lee Chan-bok signed the technical accord.

The restoration of the rail link across the euphemistic demilitarised zone between the two Koreas was recently agreed upon by both sides as part of a package of measures that could, over time, help bring about the Korean reunification.

On the inter-Korean political front, the attention and efforts of Japan were raised ahead of its prospective summit with North Korea in Pyongyang on September 17.

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