The President and Russian President Dmitriy Anatolyevich Medvedev held a summit on November 2 at the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg, where they agreed to cooperate on the PNG project to build gas pipelines from Russia to South Korea through North Korea. The two presidents also agreed that it is fundamentally important to solve North Korea’s nuclear issues in order to secure peace and safety in Korea and Northeast Asia. They said they will endeavor to resume the six-party talks.
The two presidents both agreed that if the project succeeds, it will bring benefits to all three countries: Russia, South Korea, and North Korea. “For the pipeline project, both economic feasibility and commercial conditions need to be premised,” the President said. “We expect Russia will endeavor to solve issues related to North Korea including nuclear matters.”
“Russia will be completely responsible for the risks associated with constructing pipes that go through North Korea,” said President Medvedev.  “North Korea showed enthusiastic interest in the project.”
They also had the same thoughts on a project for supplying surplus electricity to South Korea via North Korea.
Previously, the Korea Gas Corporation and Russian company Gazprom signed a provisional agreement to construct pipelines through North Korea starting in 2013 to supply Russian natural gas.
The two presidents discussed increased cooperation regarding projects related to energy, shipbuilding, automobiles, construction, and agriculture in Siberia. They said they will reinforce and develop economic cooperation based on geological advantages and complementary economic structures.
They decided to expand the partnership for modernizing the Russian economy which the two countries agreed on last year as they confirmed that cooperation between the two countries will bring benefits to both.
The summit was followed by a luncheon hosted by President Medvedev. The two leaders praised the success of the second summit of the two countries and hoped that St. Petersburg will play a key role in improving the relationship between the two countries.

By Jessica Seoyoung Choi
Korea.net Staff Writer