Gov't discussed mine clearance for N. Korea railway aid while Pyongyang was laying mines, lawmaker says

The South Korean government discussed ways to clear landmines in support of a North Korean railway restoration project around the same time Pyongyang was believed to be laying mines along the MDL, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye said Thursday.

Kim, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, made the claim while releasing internal Korea National Railway documents — including an unpublished file titled "Inter-Korean Railway Practical Preparatory Task Force Formation and Operation Plan" — according to Yonhap.

According to the documents, Korea National Railway established a dedicated task force in July 2025 to prepare for inter-Korean railway policy support, focusing on restoring rail links along the Gyeongui, Donghae and Gyeongwon lines.

In August of that year, the agency sent a confidential letter to the National Geographic Information Institute sharing project plans that included assessments of North Korean trunk-line facilities — such as the Tumen River and North Pyongan lines — along with train operations data and track capacity analyses.

The Ministry of Unification then sent a letter on Aug. 24 requesting attendance at an "inter-agency meeting on resuming Gyeongwon Line restoration" to the presidential office's National Security Office, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea National Railway and Korail.

At the meeting held Aug. 28 at Government Complex Seoul, participants discussed implementation plans, schedules and budget requirements for resuming the Gyeongwon Line restoration. A Defense Ministry official from its mine-response unit attended, and landmine clearance in the border area was placed on the agenda.

Kim said August — when the meeting took place — was a period during which North Korean troops were observed making unauthorized crossings of the MDL on both the western and eastern fronts and laying new mines in border areas.

"While North Korea was crossing the MDL to plant mines, the government was discussing mine clearance to support North Korean railways — that kind of behavior is blind submission," Kim said.

The Gyeongui and Donghae line restoration projects were suspended after North Korea announced the "complete closure of its southern border roads and railways" in October 2024, and the Gyeongwon Line restoration had also been halted at 20 percent completion.

Korea National Railway estimates that resuming the suspended Gyeongwon Line restoration would require an additional budget of about 141.98 billion won ($30.9 million).