South Korea to Resume Railway Construction to North Korea's East Coast

The South Korean government will resume construction of a railway line connecting Seoul to the city of Wonsan on the east coast of North Korea. The project had been stalled for ten years due to frozen relations with Pyongyang.

During a meeting, South Korea’s Unification Ministry stated that President Lee Jae Myung announced the railway construction to North Korea would begin in 2027 and be completed by 2029, according to a report by Yonhap.

The construction of the Seoul to Wonsan railway was originally proposed in 2015 but was suspended a year later as inter-Korean relations deteriorated. At that time, North Korea destroyed road and rail links along the border.

The ministry outlined key policy directions focusing on the peaceful resolution of conflict, crisis management, and promoting denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula to ensure security in the East Asian region. Additionally, the ministry stressed the importance of ceasing to refer to North Korea as the ‘main enemy’, as part of efforts to build peaceful coexistence and revive long-stalled inter-Korean relations.