Passenger rail service linking Russia to N. Korea set to resume: official

A railway bridge connecting Khasan, Russia, to North Korea's border area in this Sept. 11, 2023 photo provided by Kyodo. Yonhap

The governor of a Russian northeastern region bordering North Korea has said passenger trains connecting Vladivostok to the North are set to resume after years of a COVID-19 pandemic-related suspension.

Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of Primorsky Krai, made the remark in a Telegram post he updated Monday after he held a meeting with the chief of a visiting North Korean delegation from the border city of Rason.

The North's state media earlier said the delegation of the Rason Municipal People's Committee, led by Chairman Sin Chang-il, left for Russia on Sunday.

Rason, which borders Russia and China, is a logistics hub designated as a special city by the North. A railway connects the border city to Khasan, Russia, which is then linked to Vladivostok through Russian rail service.

Freight and passenger rail services connecting Rason and Khasan had been suspended since the outbreak of the pandemic, but trains for cargo shipments resumed in November 2022.

Experts voiced concerns that if the passenger rail services reopen, North Korea may start to dispatch its workers to Russia's Far East, which is banned under U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions. Moscow is believed to suffer from a shortage of labor due to its war with Ukraine. (Yonhap)