Republic of Korea visited by over 130,000 Russians annually

Over 130,000 Russians visit South Korea annually, Kim Hon Jong, head of Moscow's Agency of the South Korean National Tourism Organization, told Russian journalists, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports.

According to the official, as contacts between the two countries are developed, and especially after Siberia and the Korean Peninsula are linked together by a common main-line railway, the tourist exchange "will grow more intensive." The governments of South Korea and the People's Democratic Republic of Korea have reached an agreement to revive railway and highway services, and works to link railways and motor-ways began on September 18th, Kim Hon Jong reminded those present.

The re-connection of the Geyongui line /Seoul-Sinuiju/ is expected to be accomplished by the end of this year, and of the arterial highway - by the spring of 2003, he said.

The two countries' governments also agreed on connecting a railway and a highway on the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Hon Jong hoped that the reconstruction of highway and rail services through the PDRK "would increase the inflow of those willing to visit South Korea, and encourage Russians' interest in the country".