Bilateral Relations: After fifty years, North and South Korea resume rail link

South and North Korea started their first regular train service in several decades across the border Tuesday.

The 12-car South Korean train carrying raw materials crossed the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone into the North and is expected to return back later Tuesday.

The train service is one of the results of an October summit between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong Il, in Pyongyang.

The two leaders signed a wide-ranging agreement to promote peace and prosperity on the Korean peninsula.

In a joint declaration, they agreed to push for a peace treaty to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, and to cooperate on ending "military hostility" and "ease tensions."