Seoul firms survey North Korea-Russia project, cautious about joining

A South Korean consortium was cautious about joining a North Korea-Russia economic project, its officials said Thursday after their four-day onsite inspection last week. The consortium is comprised of three South Korean companies -- the state-run railroad operator Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL), the country's largest steelmaker POSCO and the No. 2 shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. They are potential participants in the so-called Rajin-Khasan logistics project, which would make the North Korean port city of Rajin a logistics hub by connecting it to Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway.