Three South Korean firms plan to hold another test run of a trilateral project to ship Russian coal through a North Korean port into South Korea later this month, the Unification Ministry said Friday.

Some 120,000 tons of Russian coal will be delivered to South Korea on a ship from the North Korean port city of Rajin after being transported from Russia's border city of Khasan from Nov. 17 to 30 on a re-connected railway in the third run for the so-called Rajin-Khasan logistics project.

The project is a symbol of three-way cooperation at a time when inter-Korean exchanges have become stagnant following the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship by the North in 2010.

In November 2014, the first shipment carrying 40,500 tons of Russian coal smoothly arrived in South Korea in the first operation of the project. The second test was conducted in April.

The project involves three South Korean firms -- top steelmaker POSCO, shipper Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. and state train operator Korail Corp.

"The third test operation is aimed at checking the Rajin port's capacity to handle shipments and to carry out how smoothly vessels can be berthed," said a ministry official, asking not to be named.

The South Korean firms will decide on whether to clinch a formal contract based on the outcome of the pilot operation. It is highly likely that the signing of a formal deal could be delayed into next year.

The project is also part of President Park Geun-hye's vision for a united Eurasia, known as the Eurasia initiative.

In October 2013, Park unveiled her vision which calls for infrastructure development and freer trade among Eurasian nations by linking their railways.

The project is regarded as an exception to South Korea's punitive sanctions on the North, which has suspended almost all trade and exchange programs, apart from a joint factory park project in the North's border city of Gaeseong. (Yonhap)