Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation Song Young-gil. (Photo: Yonhap)

Speaking to the press, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation Song Young-gil said this was the first time the two Koreas have had direct talks on the project, which aims to transport coal from Russia to North Korea via a 54-km railway linking Khasan, Russia, to Rajin, North Korea, and then to South Korea by ship. There have been three tests of the transport route, the latest in 2015. The trilateral project was put on hold when South Korea banned maritime transport from the North in early 2016 after North Korea conducted nuclear and missile tests.