Air China to Fly to P’yang
Air China will launch regular direct flights from Beijing to Pyongyang on January 2, 2008, a senior executive of the Chinese carrier said November 18. The departure time of flight CA121 from Beijing's Capital International Airport is scheduled at 2:00 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The arrival time in Pyongyang is 4:45 p.m. The return flight CA122 will leave Pyongyang at 5:45 p.m. on the same dates, and will arrive in Beijing at 6:30 p.m.
The flight schedule uses local time, with Pyongyang one hour ahead of Beijing. The new route will use Boeing 737 aircraft.
"The new route will offer convenience for the exchanges and cooperation between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in culture, education and technology," said Zhang Lan, vice- president of Air China. It will also provide a convenient option for passengers from Europe, the United States and Japan to travel to Pyongyang, Zhang said.
First Trains Between North And South Korea
Trains crossed the border between North and South Korea on Thursday May 17 for the first time in 56 years, in what is seen as a major step in the reconciliation between the North and South.Viewers watching live on Korean and International television channels saw boarder guards open the border gates shortly after noon to let a five-car South Korean enter North Korea.
At the same time, 240 kilometers to the east, a North Korean train headed south along the coast. The South Korean train, carrying 150 passengers from both ROK and the DPRK, departed Munsan at 11:30 a.m. to the sound of fireworks. Its destination, 27 kilometers to the north, was Gaesong, a North Korean border town where South Korean companies run factories employing workers from the North. The North Korean train, which also carried passengers from both sides of the border, made a similar journey, from Diamond Mountain resort to Jejin, forty kilometers to the south.
Symbolically and significantly the departure from Munsan was witnessed by representatives of both governments. Speaking during the departure ceremony at Munsan Station Unification Minister Lee Jae Joung of South Korea said, “These are not just test runs, they mean reconnecting the severed bloodline of the Korean nation." "The trains carry our dream of peace." He added.” These trains represent the Korean nation's wish to gallop to the destination of reunification." Said Kwon Ho Ung, Lee’s North Korean counterpart.
Speaking on China Central Television’s English language channel, CCTV International, Roger Barrett, managing director of Korea Business Consultants.said ‘It is not only very significant it is also very symbolic.’When asked about what in his mind was this
signaticance of this test run, he said:“This is not only for all Koreans, but for the world as a whole.It enables the link for trade, for culture, for sport, for all areas of development.”“Most significantly, speaking on the business side, the D.P.R.K. has a very good cost effective and worth scaled labor base.
So, that can be utilized not only by South Korea companies in future and also, as trading becomes easier by this railway link, by investors from all over the world who want to enjoy low cost manufacturing.”
Editor's Comment
A trans-Korean railway would offer a faster and cheaper way for South Korea to transport exports that are now shipped by sea to China and Europe. It would also provide a convenient route
for Russian oil and other natural resources imported by South Korea. Such a rail system would save South Korea $34 to $50 a ton in shipping costs, according to Lim Jae Kyung, a researcher at the Korea Transport Institute.
Internally the rail link has the potential to act as a channel for goods from North Korea to be sold, tariff-free, in the South. This would give investors in North Korean industries easy access to a domestic market of nearly seventy million people. However before the dream of a trans-Korea rail system becomes a reality, transportation analysts and government officials say, years of negotiation on specific details, and billions of dollars in investment in North Korea's rail system will be required.
