On 2 March 2023, an intramural working meeting was held at the OSJD Committee in Warsaw with the delegation of the Republic of Korea, headed by Deputy Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Eo Myeong-so.

The parties discussed the development of comprehensive cooperation within the framework of OSJD, as well as the preparations for the anniversary session L (50th) of the OSJD Ministerial Conference in the Republic of Korea in June 2023.

Welcoming the delegation of the Republic of Korea, Deputy Chairman of the OSJD Committee Mikhail Vsevolozhskiy informed about new directions in the OSJD activities, such as giving the consignment note the function of a document of title, working out the regulations for railway and waterway transportation, developing freight container and multimodal traffic, and other. The peculiarities of the procedure for the accession of the Republic of Korea to the Agreement on International Passenger Traffic (SMPS) and the Agreement on International Railway Freight Traffic (SMGS) were touched upon. The Deputy Chairman noted the active participation of South Korean specialists in the OSJD activities and expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea for the active work in preparation for the L (50th) anniversary session of the OSJD Ministerial Conference in 2023 in Busan. He also noted the responsible approach with which the South Korean side addresses the organisation of such events, in particular the 10th OSJD International Freight Conference (27-29 May 2015) and CGD meeting XXXIV (8-12 April 2019), which were held at the highest level in Seoul.

Mr. Eo Myeong-so, Deputy Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea, in turn, expressed his gratitude to the OSJD Committee for active cooperation and informed about the preparations for the L (50th) session of the Ministerial Conference. He also expressed his hope for the arrival in Busan and the participation of delegations of all OSJD member countries in person in this event very important for the Organisation.

A month earlier, on 31 January 2023, the OSJD Committee also held an intramural working meeting with the delegation of the Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), which was headed by the Executive Director of the Standing Auditing Committee Mr. Lee Kang-jin.

Opening the meeting, Secretary of the OSJD Committee Attila Kiss expressed his gratitude to the representatives of KORAIL for the opportunity to hold the meeting in person, as this contributes to the establishment of closer personal contacts for a more effective comprehensive discussion of working issues.

He also noted that the Republic of Korea takes an active part in the OSJD activities, and its two representatives in the OSJD Committee make a great contribution to the fulfillment of the tasks set for the OSJD Commissions and Permanent Working Groups.

Attila Kiss informed the KORAIL delegation about the preparations for the meeting XXXVII of the Conference of General Directors (Authorised Representatives) of the OSJD Railways, which is scheduled for April 2023 in Warsaw, as well as for the L (50th) anniversary session of the OSJD Ministerial Conference, which is scheduled in the Republic of Korea in June this year. He also dwelled on the procedure for joining the SMPS and SMGS agreements due to the fact that the Korean side expressed this intention.

In turn, Mr. Lee Kang-jin thanked the delegation of the OSJD Committee for the warm welcome and noted that the Republic of Korea is actively preparing for the L (50th) anniversary session of the OSJD Ministerial Conference, and expressed his hope that it will be held in person in accordance with the work plan. He also emphasised the importance of continuing cooperation within the framework of OSJD for the establishment and development of direct railway traffic between the Republic of Korea and other countries of the Eurasian continent.

In the country itself, large-scale preparations were made for the implementation of transportation on transcontinental routes and the commissioning of long trains for commercial operation, within the framework of which, on 19 July 2022, KORAIL organised a pilot run of a long freight train consisting of 50 wagons with containers with a total length of 777 meters, which proceeded on the Seoul-Busan route. It is expected that the use of long trains will significantly increase the carrying capacity in the implementation of freight traffic. KORAIL will invest heavily in infrastructure improvements, given that long haul freight trains are a breakthrough solution to radically increase the efficiency of railway freight transport.

In conclusion, the parties thanked each other for detailed information and expressed their desire to further strengthen cooperation.