Elimination of May 24 Measure Raised after Lawmakers’ Tour to Rajin-Khasan Project Site

The Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the National Assembly visited Vladivostok Station, the final station of the Trans-Siberian Railway at the border between North Korea, China, and Russia at the mouth of the Tumen River from Sept. 18 to 20. The purpose was to look around the Khasan region of Russia and examine the feasibility of the Rajin-Khasan Logistics Project. The lawmakers also visited the 150 m²-wide POSCO Hyundai International Logistics Complex that is under construction in Hunchun, China, 53 km away from Rajin.

“Amazing changes are taking place at the northern tip of the Korean Peninsula,” said ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Kim Tae-ho, adding, “Looking around the Rajin-Khasan Project site, I felt very sorry about the May 24 measure for halting exchange between the two Koreas.”

Democratic United Party Secretary Shim Jae-kwon and his colleague Kim Sung-kon also said that the May 24 measure should be repealed as soon as possible in order to maximize the positive effect of the project. In the meantime, Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee Chairman Yoo Ki-joon, who led the group, recently mentioned that the measure lost its effect in view of the Dresden Declaration of President Park Geun-hye and Seoul’s suggestion for high-ranking dialogue with Pyongyang.