Donghae Bukbu Line

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Donghae Bukbu Line

Chosŏn'gŭl	동해북부선
Hancha	東海北部線
McCune-Reischauer	Tonghae Pukpusǒn
Revised Romanization	Donghae Bukbuseon

The Donghae Bukbu Line is a former railway line that connected the present-day city of Anbyon in South Hamgyong Province, North Korea, with Yangyang, Gangwon Province, South Korea. It has not carried trains since the division of Korea. The line originally connected to the Kyongwon Line running from Gyeongseong (present-day Seoul) to Wonsan. It began running in 1929 between Anbyon and Hupgok, and was extended to Yangyang in 1937. Plans had called for it to be extended south to Pohang, where it would have connected with the Donghae Nambu Line. However, this extension was not completed before the fall of the Japanese regime in 1945, and since then the tracks have been idle.

With increasing talk of peaceful Korean reunification beginning in the 1990s, there have been various efforts to reopen the Donghae Bukbu Line, together with the Gyeongui Line in the west. An opened Donghae Bukbu Line would provide ready land access to the Kumgangsan resort area, which is open to South Korean tourists. However, although the cross-border tracks have been fully repaired, no actual trains have yet crossed the border. On May 24, 2006, North Korea cancelled plans for an initial test run to have been held near the end of the month.^[1] Korail opened the Jejin station in 2006 and has maintained some rolling stock for a trial run.

On May 18, 2007 the first train to cross the border between North and South Korea in over 50 years entered South Korea from the North. The North was reported to have agreed to regular service along both the Donghae Bukbu and Gyeongui Lines in the future.