Koreas break ground for connected railways

SEOUL, South Korea: North and South Korea broke ground Wednesday on an ambitious project to modernize North Korean railways and roads and connect them with the South, but without progress in nuclear negotiations, regular trains won’t be crossing the border anytime soon.

The ceremony at the North Korean border town of Kaesong came weeks after the Koreas conducted a joint survey on the northern railway sections they hope to someday link with the South. It’s one of several peace gestures agreed between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in, as they push ahead with engagement amid a stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.