History was being written today along the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. For the first time since 1951, two trains crossed from the North to the South and from the South to the North, carrying altogether 150 passengers in a symbolic trip of 25 kilometers one way. South Korea had to pay 80 million dollar the North to make it happen and for now it was only a one-off event. Regular passenger and cargo services crossing the DMZ are still some way off in the future. (CNN: Koreas make tracks toward peace)
The South Koreans would love to send trains across their North Korean neighbor to link up with the Trans-Siberian railroad in Russia or China, because by rail the time it takes cargo to reach Europe would be shortened considerably compared to a long sea voyage.
Symbolic or not, South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung was ecstatic, saying “It is not simply a test run. It means reconnecting the severed bloodline of our people. It means that the heart of the Korean peninsula is beating again.” The now 80-year old Han Chun-ki was a conductor on the last train crossing the area in 1951. “I never thought this day would come,” he commented.
Well, it did. “Stuff happens”, Rumsfeld would say. Only this time, it's good stuff, and the Americans had nothing to do with it.
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