North Korea calls off trial train run over border

Seoul, May 24 : North Korea has called off trial train runs across the heavily militarised border with the South which would have been the first such crossings in more than half a century, a South Korean official said today.

''North Korea has cancelled the test runs this morning,'' said a Unification Ministry official, who asked not to be identified.

He said the communist-run North's powerful military had given no guarantee of secure passage ahead of tomorrow's planned runs, which would have marked the first time trains had crossed the fortified border since they were halted during the Korean War.

South Korea is keen for trains to cross the border, but officials in Seoul say the North's powerful military has been reluctant to sign off on a plan for through trains.

The test runs would have covered a small length of track on rail links running along either side of the peninsula.

The western rail link would help in the shipment of goods in and out of an industrial park in Kaesong where South Korean companies produce goods at factories using cheap North Korean labour and land.

The eastern rail link would help in the tourism trade. A Hyundai group affiliate that runs the Kaesong industrial park also runs a mountain resort in North Korea on the east coast that millions of South Koreans have visited.

Reuters