Trains finally crossed the North-South borders of both Koreas today as per Chang Jae-soon’s AP report. Lofty rhetoric flew from both sides as well as white balloons but much remains the same.
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33 Comments
Whatever political reasons behind, it was a right step towards unification. I really hope…
Such high profile stunts look good and provide the North with the cover to demand more for doing almost nothing, yet again. If this is a first step towards unification, it’s going to be a long, long time in coming. Or more likely, when it comes, it’s going to be very messy, nothing like this almost meaningless happy face ceremonial event.
I wonder how many millions in cash changed hands from the South to the North to get this event to happen?
1/2 hour BBC report on US PBS network (nightly) this evening (Wed 16 May CONUS) said “18 million dollars” was the fee paid to North Korea (I think — going from memory so this needs verification).
They showed the railroad routings using animated schematic-type footage, with Korean language printing, which appeared (to my non-Korean experienced eye) to have been taken from ROK television.
Said this was the cost to get “North Korean military” to agree to the one-time run of the two trains (one on either side of the peninsula?).
According to CNN, they paid 80 million to help support ‘light industry’ in the North. I guess you could call drug smuggling, counterfeiting, etc. as light industry.
SK can use NK as its cheap labor manufacturing district. Problem is, will Kim Jong Il accept this, or will he use that money to plump his gut, make more ugly progeny who look like him, etc, instead of selling his ruling class that $ is good, and North Korea should actively become the cheap labor source for South Korea.
Trains should expand, run all the time for commerce. There has to be a way to check against immigration and spies, though. Or there will be chaos.
They could just keep the rail line open so as to ferry cash in to the North on a regular basis. No need for a bank. Only small, non-counterfeit bills please. How convenient.
There is no need to ferry cash.
Discussions are underway between Russia as well on the TSR and the TCR. Kim Jong Il can allow foreign trains to run through DPRK from Busan and Gwangyang Ports in the south.
The Norks can make a ton of money just allowing container trains to run non-stop through heavily fenced off and guarded rail lines in DPRK. I read this TSR line can cut the travel time from Busan to Moscow in half and shave off around 500 USD per container, that is a lot when you consider how much a company like Hanjin or Mersk would ship. Also shipping that would normally be run through Chinese ports like Shanghai could save time, hitting the ground sooner by diverting shipping through Korea.
I think this is more that just a show. KJI wants some easy cash. When ROK can foot the bill for installing security measures, these trains will run and Kim Jong Il will suck up all the gravy.
it’s a win-win situation. Let the trains run.
I understand the French delegation assigned to observe the historic moment surrendered when they heard the firecrackers.
Yawn. It’s a Romantic vision: travelling by train from Europe to Korea. It was possible once upon a time (although it was only possible via a railway system built entirely for extracting resources from Manchuria and Korea and exporting them to Japan); it’d be wonderful if it could happen again. But at what price? Whatever price the Norks demand (in money; in turning a blind eye to human rights), it will likely be too high. And it will be marketed (and has already been for the last seven years) as a symbol of Korean Unification, but we know that’s just lip service, when the reality is that unificiation means appeasing the Norks today in order to buy a long-term, cheap, walled-off workforce for the future.
On top of which, didn’t these two test trains just run between Seoul and Gaeseong? How significant is that, given that the Gaeseong industrial park is little more than an SK enclave?
$80 million for a 1-time agreement by the norks. Most expensive train-fare ever?
Hate to think what a 2nd ride is gonna cost.
I wonder if the dining car had a lively karaoke session going on?
$80 million for a 1-time agreement by the norks.
$80 million worth of raw materials to make soap, shoes, and other goods.
Real scary stuff, yup.
Caught this story on the news sandwiched between the story about the homeless teenager killed over 20,000 won and another story about 3 people killed in an accident with a fire truck lift that collapsed during a demonstration. Couldn’t help thinking how messed up the priorities are of the leadership in this country sometimes. Cash for a train / PR stunt, but nothing for a homeless teenager or fire trucks that are out-of-date. Sad.
countless countries with GDP’s too high are looking everywhere to outsource, outsource, outsource to meet the customer’s demand for consistently low priced goods.
Why do you think China is getting all this work?
If they demanded the same wages, there’s no point building them there. Might as well churn up the American factories.
This is a major deal that South Korea can take advantage of for the good of both South Korea and North Korea. I think.
i think this is the only real way to eventually get unified. If SK just did what West Germany did with East Germany, there will be major, major hate and chaos. The only productive and mutually agreeable unification is to bring the North up very gradually.
Unification is the DPRK’s worst nightmare — unless it happens the way they tried to do it in 1950. Everything North Korea does, or refuses to do or promises to do then fails to deliver, must be viewed with that fact in mind.
Fixed your quote, bluejives.
[DELETED for inappropriate content]
“This is a major deal that South Korea can take advantage of for the good of both South Korea and North Korea.”
Yeah, right. The South might eventually see some benefits after pouring billions into the project and into KJI’s pocket. How does this benefit your average North Korean? If they don’t die of starvation, torture or by firing squad, they can always get a job in a slave factory working for an SK chaebol that sends their wage to the fat dwarf to be vetted first. I don’t see how this will bring about reunification. Ain’t going to happen with the puke in power.
The main reason that the Korean government wants the rail link to work is not because of reunification. The main reason they want it to work is because the link will enable them to realize their long cherished dream of being the logistic hub of NE Asia.
Put it simply, if the DPRK keeps the link open, then a container train from Europe can go all the way to Busan via the TSR, and if the container is supposed to, let’s say, go to Japan, then all it takes is a short hop from Busan and vice versa.
The ROK government is betting that shippers will find this a lot cheaper then shipping containers via huge ocean going ships and thus send all of their containers via train through S. Korea, making S. Korea the logistics hub of NE Asia.
So, to them giving the DPRK a couple of million dollars to keep the link open is a worthwhile cost for the prestige and money that will come to S. Korea as a result of being the hub.
It’s going to cost the South alot more than a couple of million dollars. This ‘deal’ will cost them incredible amounts of cash on an ongoiong basis, but then again, I guess they don’t care as they hope to be making truckloads of cash as a ‘Hub of NEAsia’. The prestige might be nice, but it will be very costly as it will be up to the South to maintain a constant flow of cash to KJI to ensure that the route remains open and ‘free’. I can see many instances where ‘accidents’ or ‘breakdowns’ occur whereby an urgent call for billions to fix a broken rail track will become a regular occurence. I can just see the messages, “the train hit a cow, send 500 million in cash immediately or the trains will be delayed for a few weeks”.
As long as we’re fixing sentences, let me change one from:
“when the reality is that unificiation means appeasing the Norks today in order to buy a long-term, cheap, walled-off workforce for the future”
to:
when the reality is that unificiation means appeasing the Norks today in order to buy an easier political future for elected officials otherwise facing the same politico-economic fate as post-unification German governments.
Ok, but how will that help human rights conditions in North Korea?
how long do you think Kim Jong Il will live? 30 years more at max?
Do you honestly think his son will have a fat chance of ruling?
I don’t.
I think it’s prudent to milk this deal now, and plant the infranstructure necessary in North Korea.
Otherwise, it’s a hell of a job building North Korea from the dark ages.
This is the best way for both countries.
Start with industry that can’t be much use for weapons related stuff.
Let the trains run. Even if they just run thru China, it’s worth it.
Once the Norks see some kind of steady fee being generated from business operations based on legit profits, instead of lump sum bribes, they’ll buy into it too and let the trains run. In the mean time, hopefully Kim Jong Il will die of heart disease.
Mins0306 is right on the money here..
People are envisioning the opening of this rail link as an opening up of North Korea but this isn’t necessarily the case. These lines could be used solely for industrial~commercial purposes, be heavily monitored and guarded. There is nothing saying the opening of the railway will allow droves of foreign tourists access to North Korean people~territory.
North Korea could charge 20 bucks a container running through DPRK and still it would be a viable alternative for the current shipping situation for those who wish to deliver goods to Europe~Asia or opposite.
If the DPRK gets nasty, the West can simply revert to the old system and divert shipping through more traditional Chinese ports like before. In other words, opening this rail (for industrial/shipping applications only) could provide a steady source of revenue for both ROK and DPRK.
“In other words, opening this rail (for industrial/shipping applications only) could provide a steady source of revenue for both ROK and DPRK.”
It could, but even so, it still may have almost zero effect on unification or human rights or the building of infrastructure, as wjk claims (I can’t see how a heavily guarded rail line leads to the building of infrastructure). It sounds like it could possibly turn out to be a win-win money grab for the ROK and KJI. If they can possibly work it that KJI’s son can transition to the leadership, then it might be possible to kick unification even further down the road.
You guys are right — I misheard what the BBC report said. It cost the ROK 80 million US dollars (not “18 million”) in “economic aid” to the North, just for the one-time running of the two trains.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asi.....664091.stm
But hey, from a “cost of security” perspective, you can’t really fault the North Korean military for charging so much. They know well what can happen when “the train comes to town.”
The last time it came to Kaesong, it must have been a “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” type of moment (Kaesong was part of ROK back then, just below the pre-war 38th parallel border):
“…[On the morning of Sun 25 June 1950] Kaesong, the ancient capital of Korea, lay two miles south of the Parallel on the main Seoul-P’yongyang highway and railroad…. In Kaesong the northbound main rail line linking Seoul-Pyongyang-Manchuria turned west for six miles and then, short of the Yesong River, bent north again across the Parallel.
Capt. Joseph R. Darrigo, assistant adviser to the ROK 12th Regiment, 1st Division, was the only American officer on the 38th Parallel the morning of 25 June. He occupied quarters in a house at the northeast edge of Kaesong, just below Songak-san. At daybreak, approximately 0500, Captain Darrigo awoke to the sound of artillery fire. Soon shell fragments and small arms fire were hitting his house. He jumped from bed, pulled on a pair of trousers, and, with shoes and shirt in hand, ran to the stairs where he was met by his Korean houseboy running up to awaken him. The two ran out of the house, jumped into Darrigo’s jeep, and drove south into Kaesong. They encountered no troops, but the volume of fire indicated an enemy attack. Darrigo decided to continue south on the Munsan-ni Road to the Imjin River.
At the circle in the center of Kaesong small arms fire fell near Darrigo’s jeep. Looking off to the west, Darrigo saw a startling sight — half a mile away, at the railroad station which was in plain view, North Korean soldiers were unloading from a train of perhaps fifteen cars.
Some of these soldiers were already advancing toward the center of town. Darrigo estimated there were from two to three battalions, perhaps a regiment, of enemy troops on the train. The North Koreans obviously had relaid during the night previously pulled up track on their side of the Parallel and had now brought this force in behind the ROK [battalions] north of Kaesong, while their artillery barrage and other infantry attacked frontally from Songak-san. The 13th and 15th Regiments of the N.K. 6th Division delivered the attack on Kaesong.
Most of the ROK 12th Regiment troops at Kaesong and Yonan were killed or captured. Only two companies of the regiment escaped and reported to the division headquarters the next day. Kaesong was entirely in enemy hands by 0930. Darrigo, meanwhile, sped south out of Kaesong, reached the Imjin River safely, and crossed over to Munsan-ni…”
pp 22-23
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/boo.....1/Sn03.htm
Comrades, I have found historic footage of this great event. Enjoy!
http://www.pyongyangrollercoaster.com/
The test run of the trains is important because it is a small step towards the eventual integration of North Korea into the global economy. At least SOMETHING productive is being done. 50 years of cease-fire and America’s economic sanctions haven’t exactly helped the human rights situation either (but it sure did help starve millions of people). It just made the situation worse, not better. The only other alternative is use of military force via an Iraq-style invasion and post invasion “nation-building” and we all know how well that’s coming along.
I’ve seen posters at train stations that extroll the virtues of an international rail link, that links Korea with Europe. In a world in which there is only one Korea a great idea. I have to hand it to the Koreans, they do have vision, and they do get things done. In Australia it took 100 years to finally build a railway line from Darwin (North) to Adelaide (South). Let’s assume the line is a great success. There is only one problem. A very vulnerable section of that line would be running through an area run by a meglomanical, thieving, dishonest, agreement breaking, blackmailing bastard. The more successful the line is, the higher will be the extortion payments. The ROK is setting itself up for disaster.
“America’s economic sanctions haven’t exactly helped the human rights situation either (but it sure did help starve millions of people).”
Blaming America’s sanctions for starvation in the North? What crap. The sanctions have had very little effect because the North has never produced enough to even meet the minimum quota for exports set by the EU back in the 90’s.
“There is only one problem. A very vulnerable section of that line would be running through an area run by a meglomanical, thieving, dishonest, agreement breaking, blackmailing bastard. The more successful the line is, the higher will be the extortion payments.”
My sentiments exactly.
The NK news agency dedicated 4 sentences to the story.
Shows how much attention they are paying to it.