Construction and Transportation Minister Lee Yong-sup said he and his North Korean counterpart have agreed to work together to achieve regular service on railways connecting the two Koreas.

Lee made the announcement after a North Korean train returned home following historic cross-border railway tests on Thursday.

The South Korean official said he had proposed to North Korean Railway Minister Kim Yong-sam that Seoul and Pyongyang form a joint committee on cross-border railways, and that Kim had responded positively.

Lee said that they also agreed that high-level and ministerial talks would be possible as well.

But the South Korean minister noted that the North’s railway system needs modernizing to achieve the goal of regular service.

Calling the day's test run meaningful only in a historic and political sense, Lee said that regular cross-border service linking the inter-Korean network with the Trans-Siberia and the Trans-China railways would provide an opportunity for the Korean Peninsula to take a leap forward.