Peace trains

last updated 8 January 2015

Demilitarized Zone, North and South Korea

Trains crossed the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea last week for the first time since the Korean War. Crowds cheered as a train from South Korea zoomed northward along the west coast of the peninsula, carrying 100 South Korean dignitaries and selected citizens. The scene in the North was markedly different. As a small crowd of identically dressed students waved, an old train carrying 50 North Koreans chugged southward along the east coast at a speed of about 10 mph. The South’s Unification Minister Lee Jae–Joung said the event “reconnected the severed bloodline of our people.” The journeys won’t be repeated soon, though. Seoul wants regular train service re–established, but Pyongyang is unenthusiastic.