Korea-Russia launches for ＂TSR joint committee＂

South Korea and Russia agreed to form a joint railway committee for both Korea and Russia to embark on the business of connecting the Inter-Korean Railway with the Trans-Siberian Railway, a source said on Feb. 5th.

The two countries will discuss how to connect the Inter-Korean Railway, the Seoul-Shinuiju line or the Seoul-Wonsan line, with the TSR as soon as the committee kicks off. According to this plan, the link project that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed while visiting North Korea last year, is expected to be on track after Putin's visit to South Korea, scheduled for the end of February.

Both countries agreed on these basic principles and are slated to sign the accord during Putin's visit to Seoul, after confirming these issues in a joint economic committee.

The Korea-Russia joint railway committee plans to handle the TSR and the Inter-Korean Railway as an urgent subject and then cope with regional cooperation with North Korea and China as follows.

The government also participates in the OSJD, an international railway transportation organization among socialist nations, to prepare the "Iron Silk Road".

The OSJD is an organization for socialist nation passengers and cargo transportation, guided by the former USSR in 1956, headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. Now, there are 27 member countries in the OSJD, including China, North Korea, and Yugoslavia.