September 18, 2007 (LPAC) -- The "Iron Silk Road" from Pusan, South Korea, to Europe, is the leading issue on the agenda of the Korean Railroad, which marked the 108th anniversary of its founding today, the Korea Times reported. KORAIL (formerly the Korea Railroad Corporation) was started in 1899, and railways are still Korea's primary means of transportation.

While the North-South rail link "has been in limbo," since it was built in 2003, now, the Korea Times comments that "Realization of the 'Unification Express' by a Trans-Korean Railroad (TKR) must be one of the most important topics to be brought up at the inter-Korean summit talks slated for Oct. 2-4 in Pyongyang. It is hoped that linking up the two Korean railroads will eventually create an uninterrupted railroad from Far East Asia to Western Europe through Russia and China in the not-too-distant future. Despite intricate political and economic challenges holding up the restoration of the 'Iron Silk Road' linking the Far East and Europe, KORAIL should still plan the blueprint that connects Seoul and Pyongyang, and on to Europe either via the 9,300 km Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR) or similar far-reaching trans-continental routes through China or Mongolia."