The rail line is symbolic, as much as it is practical. “There’s a lot of things to do before we actually start construction,” South Korean Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee said before the ceremony. Assuming, of course, that sanctions are eventually lifted and that the rail reunion will be completed. They will spend the next two years conducting joint surveys and designing the tracks that will connect them again after a 65-year estrangement. Officials from the two nations agreed on the project in October. Kim Yun Hyok, North Korea’s vice railroad minister alluded to the project’s political obstacles at the ceremony when he called for an “unwavering determination to stand against headwinds” that jeopardize the endeavor, and warned against “wobbling on the path while listening to what others think.” He added, “The results of the rail and road project hinge on the spirit and will of our people.”
