After more than a half century of severance, trains will run again across the inter-Korean border next week.

In a meeting of the inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Promotion Committee Friday, the two Koreas agreed to conduct test runs of the Gyeongui and Donghae lines from Thursday.

South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok and North Korean Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho-ung will attend the opening ceremony of the Gyeongui Line at Munsan Station.

Afterwards, Lee and Kwon will join some 500 South and North Korean officials and citizens for a test ride from Munsan to the North's border city of Gaesong.

At Mount Geumgang Station in North Korea, meanwhile, South Korean Construction and Transportation Minister Choo Byung-jik and North Korean Railways Minister Kim Yong-sam will take part in the opening ceremony and test run of the Donghae Line along the east coast.

The railways have remained severed since shortly before the Korean War. South and North Korea agreed to reconnect the railways at the 2000 inter-Korean summit.