Similarly, oil from Iran was transported through the Soviet Union and other supplies were shipped from Japan and the Far East via the Trans-Siberian railway.
Set just east of Nakhodka at the Pacific terminus of the Trans-Siberian railway, Vostochny is the largest and probably the best managed port in the Russian Far East.
Ironically, the Trans-Siberian Railway, which Witte saw as a generator of commerce, was seen by the czar and others as a means to project Russian military power into the Far East.
Nor has anyone yet broached the question of who might pay for upgrading the North's track to take the mountain of exports that the South hopes to send via North Korea, China and the trans-Siberian railway on to Europe.