S.Korea, Russia and N.Korea move forward with gas pipeline

Posted on : 2011-08-12 12:03 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Seoul has promoted the project in part as a step toward improving inter-Korean relations

By Son Won-je, Staff Writer

  

The South Korean government has decided to move ahead with a three-way economic cooperation project, together with North Korea and Russia, to build a pipeline to carry Russian natural gas through North Korea without preconditions such as an apology from North Korean for the sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

“During diplomatic talks between South Korea and Russia in Moscow on Aug. 8, we talked extensively about the issue of sending Russian natural gas to South Korea,” said a government official. “Russian Minister Sergei Lavrov said, ‘In recent deliberations between North Korea and Russia on the issue, North Korea’s reaction was positive and I have positive expectations about the project.’ Our plan is to move ahead with this project together with North Korea and Russia if they reach an agreement, rather than brining inter-Korean politics into the matter.”

Another official said, “It currently appears that specific discussions have taken place between North Korea and Russia on the route for installing a pipeline. Russian firm Gazprom and KOGAS (Korea Gas Corporation) plan to begin working-level discussions soon.”

If agreement on installing the pipeline is reached, deliberations will also begin between North Korea and South Korea as necessary supplies and personnel will have to be exchanged between the two states. North Korea also stands to receive at least 100 million dollars in tolls.

“If this is approached based on the concept of three-way economic cooperation, it may present a way to move beyond complex political problems between North Korea and South Korea,” the government official emphasized. This effectively means that the government is promoting the pipeline project as a means of gaining leverage in discussions on improving inter-Korean relations and denuclearization, in the name of three-way economic cooperation.

In some quarters, they are discussing the possibility that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il may visit the Russian Far East next month to discuss the construction of a gas pipeline with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In other words, Putin is scheduled to attend a ceremony marking the completion of a gas pipeline linking Sakhalin and Vladivostok next month, and Kim could visit Russia during this period.

President Lee Myung-bak has shown interest in a cooperative gas pipeline project between South Korea, North Korea and Russia since the time he was CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction. In his autobiography “There is No Legend,” Lee wrote that he has believed since 1989 that South Korea should import Siberian gas. During his first visit to Russia in September 2008, he signed an MOU to import 7.5 million tons (20 percent of expected domestic demand) of natural gas a year from Siberia for 30 years, beginning from 2015.

Through an interview with a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman on March 15, Pyongyang has expressed support for Russia’s plan to build gas pipelines, railways and connect power lines, and should a proposal for three-way (South Korea, North Korea and Russia) negotiations to realize this plan be made, North Korea would positively consider it.

In response to the criticism that the pipeline project will result in significant earnings for North Korea, a South Korean government official said, “We can cut transportation costs by two thirds if we can bring the gas in by pipeline rather than liquefying it and transporting it by ship.” The official added, “This will bring in huge profits for South Korea that will eclipse the total that will fall to North Korea.”

  

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