A South Korean Train Heads North, But Sanctions Mean It Has To Carry Its Own Fuel

A South Korean train arrived in North Korea Friday for the first time in more than a decade ahead of a potential rail link up of the divided peninsula, with the team on board carrying their own fuel and supplies to conform with stringent sanctions still in place against Pyongyang.

The trip, which is part of a joint study to inspect the North's aged railway system, follows a series of summit meetings between the two countries' leaders earlier this year aimed at encouraging the North to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
Any spare fuel left over from the trip will have to be hauled back to South Korea, to avoid the risk of inspectors breaching international restrictions on trading with the North.
If those restrictions are lifted in the future, a connection between the two Korean rail systems could bring huge economic benefits to the peninsula, linking up North Korean factories with markets in the South, and giving South Korean exporters a faster route to China and Eurasia.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has long dreamed of building a trans-Korea railroad. During a speech last year, he promised that the "severed inter-Korean railway will be connected again," adding that one day, "a train departing from Busan and Mokpo will run through Pyongyang and Beijing, and head towards Russia and Europe."
South Korea sent rail cars and dozens of officials to North Korea on Friday for joint surveys on northern railway sections the countries hope someday to connect with the South.