S. Korea plays down feasibility of high-speed railway in N. Korea
2013/12/23 14:42
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Monday downplayed the possibility of local companies' participation in a project to build a high-speed railway and a parallel road in North Korea.
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Eyi-do told reporters that the feasibility of a project to build a railway and a road connecting Kaesong near the border with South Korea to North Korea's northwestern city of Sinuiju bordering China is "very low."
Kim said it is nearly impossible for South Korean firms to make massive investments in North Korea due to sanctions imposed by Seoul on Pyongyang in 2010 following a deadly sinking of a South Korean warship by the North.
The North has refused to take responsibility for the sinking of the warship, which claimed 46 South Korean sailors' lives.
Kim's comment came days after an opposition lawmaker claimed that North Korea and China had agreed to build a high-speed railway and a road parallel to it linking Kaesong with Sinuiju via Pyongyang.
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