Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Wednesday visited the construction site of a customs, immigration and quarantine building and an inter-Korean railroad along the East Sea in Goseong, Gangwon Province.

Chung encouraged construction workers there after being briefed on the status of the CIQ building and the rail lines.

In a short speech, he said that while lasting peace has yet to come to the Korean Peninsula, progress of even a few miles towards the North is meaningful.

The minister noted as the Korean Peninsula remains isolated in the post-Cold War era, the two Koreas should end their confrontation and follow the tide of the global community.

He called the construction not just a rail and highway connection but a major contributor to inter-Korean peace, and after completition, goals will materialize much faster than expected by the inter-Korean economic community and the national public.