IF THE KYONGI RAIL AND EAST SEA RAIL ARE connected, it might be possible to travel to London by train simply by going through Russia. 
 Nowadays, we can easily hear the name "Silk Road" mentioned. The Silk Road was a traffic route for trade in ancient times. It connected the southern and western part of inland Asia. The name came about as a result of silk fabrics being exported from China to countries bordering it from the west.
   The reason why Koreans use this name now is due to the opening of Kyongui Rail and East Sea Rail. So many people in our nation South Korea have been concerned about the rails on the Silk Road since ancient times.
   These days, however, the chance to realize the Rail Silk Road is getting closer. Kyongui Rail is a double track line that runs from Seoul to Shinuiju. The length is 518.5km. In our history, Kyongui Rail's construction had begun in 1896, but could not be completed at that time due to the lack of sufficient funds. Then Kyongui rail's construction was further complicated because of the war between Russia and Japan in 1904. It finally opened in 1905, but was used as a way to exploit Japan.  As a result, it was interrupted on June 12th, 1951 by the war of June 25th.
   The East Sea Rail runs from Anbyeon in Hamgyeong-namdo and Yangyang in Kangwon-do. The length is 192.6km. It was suspend by the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) after the division of Korea into north and south after its opening in 1937. Finally the work of restoration was closed under our very noses. To connect the Kyongui Rail and East Sea Rail is like meaning of reconnect that cut off history for fifty years. Because, we can't go North Korea for fifty years under the war of June 25th Incident of Korea. But, we can go to North Korea after connected the rails. So it likes meaning of unification and re-connecting our cut off history. 
  Connecting the Kyongui Rail and East Sea Rail would be like reconnecting fifty years of cut off history. Because, we couldn't go to North Korea for a period of fifty years due to the war of June 25th Incident. But, it will be possible to go to North Korea after the rails are connected. So it's like unifying and re-connecting our cut off history.
As to the restoration work of Kyongui Rail and East Sea Rail, the issue has been raised several times in inter-Korean summit meetings. But whenever discussed the issue could not be resolved. However, the idea of finishing the restoration work had been discussed concretely and in an inter-Korean summit meeting and in August of 2000 was finally agreed upon to be completed. A ceremony was performed in honor of the connection at MDL on June 14th, 2003. The restoration work of Kyongui Rail was meant to connect Munsan to Kaesung through the MDL. The East Sea Rail restoration process has been divided into two steps. One step is to make the rail connect from Jeojin to the MDL and is still being worked on. The other is to connect from Busan to Sokcho.
   Now the restoration work is coming to a finish and North Korea has some last minute work removing mines. A trial run was supposed to be conducted for the train in October, but was delayed. So the rest work of rail is go to the test of train under the present conditions. We will be able to see the opening of the train rail after the test run next year. 
   There are so many positive effects the restoration work of Kyongui rail and East sea rail has brought. The most effective is the cutting down of expenses between South Korea and North Korea. The other benefits will be the economy of time for transportation, increased trade with each nation, improved international competitiveness, reorganization of the industry system, etc.  If connected to Kyongui Rail, expenses will be curtailed and take about 1/5 the time, compared with the marine transportation between Incheon and Nampo used now. These positive effects will lead to much more active trade. 
  The scale of foreign trade between South and North Korea is about 1.4 billion dollars, it reach 22.3 percentage. It is scale of third next trade of Korea between China and Japan now. Plus North Korea has made an offer to do labor for our nation, we can have competitive power with goods exported toother nations. To be supplied with enough manpower is becoming vital for trade processing, since North Korea has low wages. We can mutually establish a win-win system for production, it will be support that capital and technology of South Korea to the part of light industry of North Korea.  It is expected that tourism of Mt. Geumgang and business cooperation between the south and the north will also be vital.
  Together we can look forward to the Silk Road Rail for the long term. If Kyongui Rail connects with the Trans China Railways (TCR), it will be a good prospect to secure a new supply route of freight to trade between Korea and China. There are four ways to connect from Europe to the Korean Peninsula. There are the Trans Siberian Railways (TSR), TCR, and Trans Manchuria Railways (TMR). First of all, a traffic network connection is needed between South and North Korea.  Modernization of North Korea's traffic network and conferencing with each nation in Northeast Asia is needed because the rail exists already. Consultation has already been done between Russia and North Korea through summit talks, which will connect the railroad and improve Russia's support for modernization of North Korea's traffic network.
   There are good signs that our dreams of making the connection from Asia to Europe will come true. The positive aspect of the Silk Road will be the cutting down of distribution costs and we will be able to go from Seoul to Berlin within twenty-two days by train as apposed to taking thirty-three days by sea transportation. For example, it will take one day, while before it would have taken five days to go from Incheon to Nampo. If the second step of East Sea Rail, which connects Busan to Sokcho, is completed, we can than form the Silk Road through Busan, Seoul, Pyongyang, Vladivostok, and Paris, to London. As a result, we can create a lot of exchange between Europe and Asia. With the formation of the Silk Road, the Korean Peninsula will be able to attract world attention by taking the first step toward economical unification in Northeast Asia, expected to play a central role as a base for international physical distribution. Though we will be able to get the result quickly, it will require so much effort.
   More effort is needed for the project of building the Silk Road, because the work of the second East Sea Rail will be finished in 2020. It may be too late to complete the Silk Road if we don't hurry up and have it ready as soon as possible. It is very important work, to connect the Kyongui Rail and East Sea Rail, they will both have an enormous influence on the economy of South and North Korea along with Northeast Asia. This represents the possibility of unification and getting out of a weak economy, by the connection of the south and north through a truce line.
   It means connecting our history, which has been broken off for fifty years by the war of June 25th. We can see unification between South and North Korea in the future.
   As a result, this work is a matter of great importance. We should try to realize the full potential of building the Silk Road, expect the day that we can go to London through Russia by train.