![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/358185.jpg\" "\\"A")
<\/p>\nCHEORWON (South Korea), Aug 22 \u2014 Near the heavily fortified frontier dividing the Korean peninsula, the abandoned Woljeong-ri station is being recast as a symbol of South Korea\u2019s hopes to reconcile with the North.<\/p>\n
But plans to reconnect South Korea\u2019s northernmost station to the rail network come at an awkward moment, as Pyongyang ignores Seoul\u2019s overtures while the South\u2019s old ally Washington pursues its own talks with Pyongyang.<\/p>\n
A turbulent few days have raised doubts about the role of South Korea in any diplomatic push, despite President Lee Jae Myung\u2019s dovish line on the North since taking power last year.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump abruptly scaled back annual military drills with Seoul this week, calling them \u201cinappropriate and hostile\u201d towards the nuclear-armed North.<\/p>\n
He also berated South Korea for not helping in his war against Iran and said he would meet the North\u2019s leader Kim Jong Un this year.<\/p>\n
North Korea then fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, while Kim\u2019s powerful sister mocked Seoul\u2019s \u201cmaster-servant\u201d relationship with Washington.<\/p>\n
The developments have overshadowed the Lee administration\u2019s outreach, including the Woljeong-ri project aimed at \u201ceventual\u201d reconciliation.<\/p>\n
The modest station \u2014 originally located inside today\u2019s demilitarised zone (DMZ) \u2014 once sat on a line linking Seoul to Wonsan, but was destroyed during the 1950-53 Korean War. It was reconstructed at its current site in the border town of Cheorwon in 1988.<\/p>\n
It is now an attraction for visitors to the nearby DMZ separating the two countries, and the line\u2019s former terminus \u2014 Wonsan \u2014 lies in North Korea.<\/p>\n
Its history, however, underscores how vulnerable such hopes are to the politics of the peninsula.<\/p>\n
Work began in 2015 but ground to a halt just a year later after North Korea\u2019s fourth nuclear test.<\/p>\n
The latest reboot inspires more scepticism than hope for some in Cheorwon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems like they keep trying to reconcile with North Korea (through the railway project), but from our point of view, it isn\u2019t really practical,\u201d said resident Moon Jae-yong, 70.<\/p>\n
Lonely push for peace<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s reconciliation programme eventually aims to restore rail links, such as Woljeong-ri, with the North.<\/p>\n
Lee has also said he is ready for talks with Pyongyang without preconditions, including on formally ending the Korean War, which concluded with an armistice.<\/p>\n
His unification minister said in July that Seoul had shifted from prioritising denuclearisation to curbing the expansion of North Korea\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n
But Pyongyang \u2014 emboldened by support from traditional ally China, and Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine it is backing \u2014 has been unmoved.<\/p>\n
It has repeatedly declared itself an \u201cirreversible\u201d nuclear state and labelled Seoul its \u201cmost hostile\u201d enemy.<\/p>\n
The US leader may be trying to revive diplomacy to record a foreign-policy win ahead of November\u2019s midterm elections, with many voters disenchanted by his intervention in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
That has sidelined Seoul, with Lee voicing respect for Trump\u2019s decision and pledging to \u201cdo his utmost\u201d to support his peacemaking efforts.<\/p>\n
South Korea is \u201creasonably afraid that it gets sidelined \u2014 China, Russia and now America are all engaged with Pyongyang in different ways, while Seoul is not,\u201d Vladimir Tikhonov, Korean Studies professor at the University of Oslo, told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, Seoul is desperate to get some opening with North Korea. But it can do very little, so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Impossible dream?<\/p>\n
That leaves the rail project standing as a symbol of South Korea\u2019s lonely push for peace.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A locomotive is seen at the Woljeong-ri Station in Cheorwon. \u2014 AFP pic<\/p>\n
Along the disused line from Woljeong-ri towards Baengmagoji station to the south \u2014 the section to be restored under the peace project \u2014 vegetation crowds both sides of the tracks, nearly swallowing a stone wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe iron horse wants to run,\u201d a sign reads, alongside a phrase in English: \u201cWe want to be back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preparing infrastructure in the South now could save time if inter-Korean links are eventually restored, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut realistically, it is virtually impossible under the current circumstances, and everyone knows that,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n
With few options on North Korea, Seoul has turned to projects it can \u201cpursue unilaterally\u201d, Lim said.<\/p>\n
The project also aims to boost tourism along the border, where residents face frequent disruptions and security risks.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang sent trash-filled balloons and broadcast unsettling noises across the border during the administration of Lee\u2019s hawkish predecessor, Yoon Suk-yeol.<\/p>\n
Kim Sun-hee, 70, described them as \u201clike scraping cement, or even ghost-like noises. It was really frightening\u201d.<\/p>\n
A bombed-out locomotive from the Korean War remains near Woljeong-ri station as a reminder of the division.<\/p>\n
It is \u201cheartbreaking to see\u201d, said visitor Ahn Seung-hyun. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHEORWON (South Korea), Aug 22 \u2014 Near the heavily fortified frontier dividing the Korean peninsula, the abandoned Woljeong-ri…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65614,141,5280,146,129,65615],"class_list":["post-128351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pyongyang","tag-cheorwon","tag-kim-jong-un","tag-korean-peninsula","tag-lee-jae-myung","tag-pyongyang","tag-woljeong-ri"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}