The first shipment of Russian coal arrived in South Korea’s Pohang via Rajin Port in North Korea, referred to by Seoul as “the first step in three-way cooperation between South, North Korea, and Russia.” 

“Our government believes the trial shipment of coal is the first step in cooperation between three countries--South and North Korea, and Russia--and that it carries significance as a project to realize the possibility of building the foundation for economic innovation in the South, peace in Northeast Asia, and the Eurasia Initiative,” the spokesman for Seoul’s Ministry of Unification, Lim Byeong Cheol said on Monday in a regular briefing. 

“The government will provide the necessary support to ensure operations such as the Rajin-Khasan distribution project succeed in order to realize the Eurasia Initiative,” the spokesman added. 

In regard to some media reports claiming Seoul is looking into the possibility of modernizing facilities at Rajin Port, Lim denied them, saying, “At this point, no follow-up measures are under review such as modernizing the Rajin Port.” 

A trial shipment of 45,000 tons of bituminous coal from Russia, which was carried from Russia’s Hasan to North Korea’s Rajin via a 54 km long railroad, left the North Korean port on the 27th at 9:30 a.m. to arrive in South Korea’s port of Pohang on the 29th at 6 a.m. On Monday, the vessel entered the port, where unloading of the coal has begun. 

A government official from the Ministry of Unification said in a meeting with reporters that “it is unlikely a formal contract will be signed this year, and most believe it’s likely to happen next year.“ The official added, "That, although, will change depending on how we negotiate the deal.” 

Negotiations among South Korea’s three civilian companies involved in the project and Russia will include multiple issues such as “how to pay for the port operation,” the official said. 

For the trial shipment worth a total of some 4 million USD, the official said that not much went to North Korea because the project has yet to launch in full scale. “Almost nothing went to them [North Korea],” the official said. 

On North Korea’s 21-day quarantine on foreigners entering the country due to precautionary Ebola prevention measures, according to the official, Pyongyang exempted the inspection team of government and company officials from the South, expressing great determination toward the project.

“Overall, there were some improvements from the second inspection [back in October],” he said about the facilities at Rajin Port. “There were improvements in equipment for loading cargo and dredging around the port to allow large vessels to enter, and a conveyor belt has also been put in place, speeding up the loading process."

“With the current facilities, everything planned can be carried out. There were three cranes,” he explained, but did go on to note that "some areas could be further improved to increase economic efficiency.”