The Democratic People's Republic of the Korea (DPRK) and Russia will reopen a cross-border railway in October after four years of renovation, the official news agency KCNA reported Monday.

The railway linking the DPRK's northeastern port city of Rajin to Russia's Far Eastern border town of Khassan will start cargo train services from October, Kim Chang Sik, the department director of the DPRK Ministry of Railways, was quoted as saying.

The laying of railroad and renovation of railway stations, tunnels and communications facilities were now under way, he said.

The 54-km-long railway, built under the Moscow Declaration signed between the two countries in August 2001, will have a capacity of handling at least 100,000 containers a year, he said.

The railway, serving as an international container transport line linking Northeast Asia with Europe, will help boost the two countries' economic cooperation, said the official.

Renovation work of the railway, which extends to the Trans-Siberian Railway, began in October 2008.

Rajin, situated on the western side of the Tumen River, is part of Rason, the DRPK's northeastern free trade zone, while Khasan, lying near Lake Khasan and the Tumen River, is the only Russian settlement on the border with the DPRK.

The Rason zone, formerly known as the Rajin-Sonbong Economic Special Zone, was established by the DPRK in 1991 to boost economic growth through foreign investment.

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