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The letter to Kim Jong-Il, the Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, and South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung reads, in part: “Russia was deeply delighted to welcome this symbolic step, which will undoubtedly promote rapprochement and reconciliation in the inter-Korean process, and will make a considerable contribution to strengthening peace and security on the Korean Peninsular and in the Asia-Pacific region as whole.

“Russia is ready to make every effort, actively cooperating with North and South Korea, including on a trilateral basis, to hasten the commencement of goods shipment along the Trans-Korean and Trans-Siberian railways, as well as opening the transport corridor from the Korean Peninsula to Europe.”

The project of building a railway corridor running from the south of the Korean Peninsula to Europe via Russia, which included reconstruction of the Trans-Korean Railway and subsequently linking it to the Trans-Siberian Railway, was initiated by Russia and had been discussed by bilateral expert groups since 1999. As the situation on the Korean Peninsula was improving, an inter-Korean summit in June 2000 raised the issue of reconstructing the railway link between North and South. It would help with the delivery of goods from the Korean Peninsula to Russia, China, and to Europe, which would be cheaper and quicker than by sea. During the Russian President’s visit to North Korea in July 2000 and South Korea in February 2001, this question was included in the agenda of their talks. The President continued discussing it during his meeting with the North Korean leader in Moscow in August 2001 and in Vladivostok in August 2002, as well as with South Korean officials at different levels.