Rajin-Khasan project to start its second trial run

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Rajin-Khasan project to start its second trial run

A second trial run in a three-party trade project involving Seoul, Pyongyang and Moscow that will transport more than 100,000 tons of soft coal from Russia to three Korean ports is scheduled to start today, the Ministry of Unification said on Wednesday.

The venture, referred to as the Rajin-Khasan logistics project, will run from today to May 9, and use Chinese ships to transfer the consignment, according to a ministry official.

A consortium of three South Korean companies - top steelmaker Posco, the Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail) and ship maker Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. - are involved in the project, which will see the soft coal transported to Rajin, North Korea, from the Russian border city of Khasan on a reconnected 54-kilometer (33-mile) railway before being shipped to South Korea.

The expected shipment will be used for thermal power generators and ironmaking. The consignment is three times the amount of coal that was transported in the pilot round, when some 40,000 tons were transferred to Pohang, North Gyeongsang, in November over the same route.

Power plant operators Korea East-West Power Co. and Korea Midland Power Corp. are also participating in the second trial run.

The Russian coal will be transported via two China-flagged vessels, a 44,000-tonner and a 49,000-tonner, that will sail from the Rajin port down the East Sea and around the Korean Peninsula to three ports. The coal is expected to arrive first in Dangjin Port in Gyeonggi, where it will be used by the Korea East-West Power Co.

More is scheduled to arrive the following day in Gwangyang Port in South Jeolla for use by Posco. Korea Midland Power Corp. will get its delivery on May 9, at the Boryeong Port in South Chungcheong.

An inspection team of 18 government officials and representatives from the three South Korean companies will make a weeklong visit to the North Korean city with Russian railway authorities on Friday for the project.

“Our government completed the procedures needed for this second trial operation, receiving approval to visit North Korea and import the coal,” a Unification Ministry official said on Wednesday. “Pyongyang will, depending on its contract with Russia, receive payment just for the cost of using the North Korean port.”

The companies will then decide on whether to forge a formal contract for the trilateral project based on the outcome of both test runs.

The Rajin-Khasan project is a part of President Park Geun-hye’s Eurasia Initiative first announced in October 2013 as a way to boost the regional economy through free trade and economic cooperation in the Eurasian bloc by reconnecting the railways that link both Koreas, China and Russia.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
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