Russia, China, South Korea, North Korea and Japan to Participate in Railway Consortium

The most probable participants of the consortium of financing the reconstruction of the Trans-Korean Trunk Railway, apart from Russia, North Korea and South Korea may be Japan and China, Russian Transport Minister Gennady Fadeyev said at the negotiations with the Korean Railway Minister in Pyongyang. As the press service of the Russian Railway Ministry reported, it was pointed out at the negotiations that the international interest for the link-up of the Trans-Korean Railway and the Trans-Siberian Railway is extremely high.

According to preliminary data, to implement the project of the reconstruction of the Trans-Korean Railway, over $2bn may be required. "Russia cannot allocate these funds today, therefore we will have to attract foreign investors to the project", the head of the Railway Ministry pointed out. According to Fadeyev, the transportation of one container from South Korean ports through the Trans-Siberian Railway that is expected to be linked up with the Trans-Korean Railway, will cost $600 less than the transportation by sea.