Korea trains track unity push

chicagotribune.com ^ | May 18, 2007 | Choe Sang-Hun

[Jet Jaguar]

Border crossings are 1st in 56 years MUNSAN, South Korea -- Trains crossed the border between North and South Korea on Thursday for the first time in 56 years in what was hailed by both sides as a milestone for reconciliation on the divided Korean Peninsula. As white balloons soared into a blue sky, soldiers swung open barbed-wire-topped gates shortly after noon to let a five-car South Korean train enter North Korea. It entered through the 2.5-mile-wide demilitarized zone, the world's most heavily armed border At the same time, 150 miles to the east, a North Korean train trundled down the coast. Although these were one-time test runs on two short stretches of railroad that were linked through the demilitarized zone several years ago, they were highly symbolic to Koreans. No train had crossed the border since the last trains carrying refugees and wounded soldiers arrived in South Korea from the North during the Korean War in 1951. For decades in South Korean postcards and school textbooks, the bullet-scarred, rusting hulks of wartime locomotives trapped in the demilitarized zone have symbolized a divided Korea and a conflict that has never been formally ended. The Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. "These are not just test runs," Unification Minister Lee Jae Joung of South Korea said. "

[Eyes Unclouded]

Lets just get rid of all the borders in the whole world.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Hey, one border at a time. Thanks to Congress yesterday, now the U.S. no longer has borders. Ain’t that great ?

[Jet Jaguar]

[SevenofNine]

That remind me of one of the 1940s train like Orient Empress LOL!!

Is North Korea that backward?

I THINK SO

[Jet Jaguar]

I wonder if the train they used today was the one they stole from China?

[SevenofNine]

Probably most likely does remind you of 1940s train you see in Old movies remind me alot of that

I expect see Irene Dunne or Marlene Dietrich come off that train LOL!