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| Koreas launch regular rail link | Koreas launch regular rail link |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The first regular rail service between North and South Korea since their 1950-1953 war has begun operating. | |
| A 12-car cargo train, run by a Southern conductor and carrying raw materials for shoes, crossed into the North and was due back later on Tuesday. | |
| The service runs on a 25-km (16-mile) section of track connecting Munsan in the South with Bongdong in the North. | The service runs on a 25-km (16-mile) section of track connecting Munsan in the South with Bongdong in the North. |
| Hailed as a reconciliation milestone between the Koreas, the daily link was agreed at a leaders' summit in October. | |
| The weekday freight service leads to a joint industrial zone in the North's border city of Kaesong. | |
| Heavily fortified | |
| Dozens of South Korean firms have bases in Kaesong, where they have access to cheaper labour. | |
| They have had to use trucks to move materials and goods back and forth across the heavily fortified border. | |
| The new service is expected to slash the cost of transporting products over the border. | |
| It comes months after the two sides conducted a one-time test run of passenger trains. | |
| South Korea is also seeking regular passenger services, as well as wider rail links with North Korea and China, but Pyongyang has opposed this. |