Under the deal, Russian Railways and the port of Rason, also known as Najin, will set up a joint venture for 49 years. Russia and North Korea will control 70% and 30% of the joint venture, respectively.
The port is located in North Korea's Rajin-Sonbong Economic Special Zone in the northeast tip of the country.
The joint venture will attract investment to finance the project and invite contractors for design and building operations to modernize a 52-km rail line between Tumangang and Rason, and build a container depot at Rason.
At a trilateral meeting in 2006, the heads of Russian Railways, and the North and South Korean rail authorities discussed launching modernization of the Trans-Korean railway, and joint projects to attract additional cargo to the Trans-Siberian railroad.
The parties agreed to launch a Trans-Korean rail modernization program with a pilot project to modernize a 54 km rail sector from Russia's Khasan to Rason. A decision was also made to set up a container depot in Rason for launching freight transshipment through the pilot sector of the Trans-Korean railway.
