appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Agence France-Presse

Near the heavily fortified frontier dividing the Korean peninsula, the abandoned Woljeong-ri station is being recast as a symbol of South Korea’s hopes to reconcile with the North.
But plans to reconnect South Korea’s northernmost station to the rail network come at an awkward moment, as Pyongyang ignores Seoul’s overtures while the South’s old ally Washington pursues its own talks with Pyongyang.
A turbulent few days have raised doubts about the role of South Korea in any diplomatic push, despite President Lee Jae Myung’s dovish line on the North since taking power last year.
US President Donald Trump abruptly scaled back annual military drills with Seoul this week, calling them “inappropriate and hostile” towards the nuclear-armed North.

He also berated South Korea for not helping in his war against Iran and said he would meet the North’s leader Kim Jong-un this year.
North Korea then fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, while Kim’s powerful sister mocked Seoul’s “master-servant” relationship with Washington.
The developments have overshadowed the Lee administration’s outreach, including the Woljeong-ri project aimed at “eventual” reconciliation.
The modest station – originally located inside today’s demilitarised zone (DMZ) – once sat on a line linking Seoul to Wonsan, but was destroyed during the 1950-53 Korean war. It was reconstructed at its current site in the border town of Cheorwon in 1988.
It is now an attraction for visitors to the nearby DMZ separating the two countries, and the line’s former terminus – Wonsan – lies in North Korea.
Its history, however, highlights how vulnerable such hopes are to the politics of the peninsula.
Work began in 2015 but ground to a halt just a year later after North Korea’s fourth nuclear test.

The latest reboot inspires more scepticism than hope for some in Cheorwon.
“It seems like they keep trying to reconcile with North Korea [through the railway project], but from our point of view, it isn’t really practical,” said resident Moon Jae-yong, 70.
South Korea’s reconciliation programme eventually aims to restore rail links, such as Woljeong-ri, with the North.
Lee has also said he is ready for talks with Pyongyang without preconditions, including on formally ending the Korean war, which concluded with an armistice.
His unification minister said in July that Seoul had shifted from prioritising denuclearisation to curbing the expansion of North Korea’s nuclear programme.
But Pyongyang – emboldened by support from traditional ally China, and Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine it is backing – has been unmoved.
It has repeatedly declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear state and labelled Seoul its “most hostile” enemy.
The US leader may be trying to revive diplomacy to record a foreign-policy win ahead of November’s midterm elections, with many voters disenchanted by his intervention in the Middle East.
That has sidelined Seoul, with Lee voicing respect for Trump’s decision and pledging to “do his utmost” to support his peacemaking efforts.

South Korea is “reasonably afraid that it gets sidelined – China, Russia and now America are all engaged with Pyongyang in different ways, while Seoul is not,” said Vladimir Tikhonov, Korean Studies professor at the University of Oslo.
“So, Seoul is desperate to get some opening with North Korea. But it can do very little, so far.”
That leaves the rail project standing as a symbol of South Korea’s lonely push for peace.
Along the disused line from Woljeong-ri towards Baengmagoji station to the south – the section to be restored under the peace project – vegetation crowds both sides of the tracks, nearly swallowing a stone wall.
“The iron horse wants to run,” a sign reads, alongside a phrase in English: “We want to be back on track.”
Preparing infrastructure in the South now could save time if inter-Korean links were eventually restored, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University.
“But realistically, it is virtually impossible under the current circumstances, and everyone knows that,” he said.
With few options on North Korea, Seoul had turned to projects it could “pursue unilaterally”, Lim said.
The project also aims to boost tourism along the border, where residents face frequent disruptions and security risks.


Pyongyang sent trash-filled balloons and broadcast unsettling noises across the border during the administration of Lee’s hawkish predecessor, Yoon Suk-yeol.
Kim Sun-hee, 70, described them as “like scraping cement, or even ghost-like noises. It was really frightening”.
A bombed-out locomotive from the Korean war remains near Woljeong-ri station as a reminder of the division.
It is “heartbreaking to see”, visitor Ahn Seung-hyun said.


South Korean ex-spy reveals toll of secret missions to North: ‘treated as expendable’

South Korea hands police more power even as dead bodies expose the lies

Jeju Island officer accused of falsely closing missing-person cases after 2 found dead

AI server boom fuels record supply crunch for the ‘rice of electronics’

South Korea

Why South Korea wants to rebuild a DMZ railway despite Kim’s cold shoulder

Train tracks are seen at the Baengmagoji Station in South Korea’s Gangwon province, near the demilitarized zone separating it from the North. Photo: AFP

US soldiers taking part in the scaled-back joint military exercises with South Korea on Thursday. Photo: Yonhap/AFP

People watch file footage of a North Korean missile test at a railway station in Seoul on Thursday. North Korea fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles on the same day. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung visits US President Donald Trump at the White House last year. Photo: AP

A locomotive at the Woljeong-ri station in Cheorwon, South Korea, near the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea in August. Seoul plans to reconnect the station with the North in a push for peace. Photo: AFP

A locomotive behind a burnt-out train carriage at the Woljeong-ri station in August. The station destroyed during the 1950-53 Korean war, was rebuilt at its current site in Cheorwon in 1988. Photo: AFP

North Korea answers US olive branch with missile launch

People in Seoul watch a news broadcast on August 12 showing a North Korean missile launch. Japan says it detected a suspected North Korean missile launch off the country's east coast on Thursday. Photo: EPA

US Army soldiers take part in a training exercise on a river in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea on Thursday. Photo: AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump inside the demilitarised zone separating the South and North Korea in June 2019. Photo: TNS

US drill cuts threaten South Korea’s wartime command plans

South Korean soldiers join in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the US and South Korea in Seoul on Wednesday. Photo: AP

US soldiers conduct a training exercise on a river in Yeoncheon, near the border between South and North Korea, on Tuesday. Photo: AP 

US military vehicles are seen at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on Wednesday. Photo: Yonhap/AFP

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (left) and US President Donald Trump attend a work meeting at the G7 summit in France on June 17. Photo: AFP

US, South Korea slash joint military drills by half as Trump eyes Kim summit

US Army’s soldiers conduct a training exercise on a river in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on Tuesday. Photo: AP

US Forces Korea commander General Xavier Brunson leaves the Defence Ministry in Seoul after discussing cutbacks to the Ulchi exercise on Tuesday. Photo: Yonhap/AP

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (second right) speaks during a cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Tuesday. Photo: Yonhap/AP

South Korea accelerates military self-reliance over Trump’s ‘unpredictability’

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Tuesday, Photo: Yonhap/AP

Jang Do-young, public affairs director of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ryan Donald, public affairs director of the United Nations Command, attend a press briefing in Seoul on the 2026 Ulchi drills. Photo: Reuters

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump meet on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line in the Joint Security Area of Panmunjom on June 30, 2019. Photo: AFP

A US Army vehicle crosses a bridge in Yeoju on the Namhan River during the 2025 Ulchi military drill. Photo: AP

A TV screen at Seoul Station shows a news report that North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the East Sea last week. Photo: EPA

News

Asia

East Asia

World

United States & Canada

With Washington and Pyongyang talking over its head, Seoul is rebooting a border railway to keep its lonely diplomacy on track


With Washington and Pyongyang talking over its head, Seoul is rebooting a border railway to keep its lonely diplomacy on track.


Why South Korea wants to rebuild a DMZ railway despite Kim’s cold shoulder

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}With Washington and Pyongyang talking over its head, Seoul is rebooting a border railway to keep its lonely diplomacy on track

With Washington and Pyongyang talking over its head, Seoul is rebooting a border railway to keep its lonely diplomacy on track