South Korea plans to begin work this year on an expressway linking Seoul with a western border town in an attempt to boost trade with North Korea and prepare for unification, the finance ministry said Thursday.

Construction of the 35.2-kilometer-long expressway connecting Seoul to Munsan, just south of the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas, has been postponed due to an environmental impact assessment.

The finance ministry said it held a policy coordination meeting and decided to push ahead with the plan as part of efforts to attract more private investment that can fuel economic growth and compensate for a shortage of government funds.

It will take five years and 1.5 trillion won ($1.37 billion) to build the four- to six-lane highway, which is expected to reduce travel time from the northwestern outskirts of Seoul to the border city by 35 minutes.

The government has yet to determine how much private money will be lured to bankroll the project, the ministry said.

In addition, the government will start work on the undergroundization of the Gyeongin Expressway in the first half of next year for completion in 2018. The road connects Seoul with Incheon, a port 40 kilometers west of the capital.

The ministry also said it will rev up efforts to cut red tape in order to attract more private funds to infrastructure projects. (Yonhap)