S. Korea fails to join int’l railroad project due to N. Korean opposition

South Korea’s Vice Transportation Minister Yeo Hyung-koo (second from L) attends the 43rd ministerial meeting of the Organization for Cooperation between Railways in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on June 4, 2015. (Photo courtesy of transportation ministry via Yonhap)

SEJONG, June 4 (Yonhap) — South Korea again failed to join an international organization for railroad cooperation, a prerequisite for building a trans-Asian railway, due to opposition from North Korea, the Seoul government said Thursday.

It was the second time Seoul sought to join the Organization for Cooperation between Railways (OSJD) since 2003 when the country’s first attempt was again thwarted by Pyongyang’s opposition, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

New membership with the OSJD requires a unanimous vote from the organization’s 28 members, including the communist North.

“We were able to secure explicit support of all other members except North Korea, and the organization is now moving to change its membership procedure from a unanimous vote to two-thirds approval from its members, so we are now looking forward to joining the organization at the next chance,” Vice Transportation Minister Yeo Hyung-koo was quoted as saying.

Yeo has been attending the 43rd ministerial talks of the OSJD in Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar. OSJD currently has 28 members, including China and Russia.

For South Korea, joining the OSJD is a necessary step to link the country’s own railway system to the trans-Siberian and trans-China railways as part of its long-term goal to reach Europe by land, the ministry said.

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