hankyoreh

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has expressed support for a Russian project to pipe Siberian natural gas to South Korea through his country's territory, a Russian news agency said Friday, quoting a Russian official.
The gas pipeline project was a major topic when Kim held a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a Siberian city earlier this week. The two countries said after the summit that they have agreed to set up a joint committee to push the project.
In a meeting with reporters in Khabarovsk after the summit, Viktor Ishaev, Russia's presidential envoy to the Far East Federal District, quoted Kim as telling him separately that North Korea will permit the pipeline to go through its territory if Russia and South Korean sign a contract on the project, according to the Interfax news agency.
Ishaev said he had a chat with Kim as he was assigned to escort Kim throughout his train journey for the summit with Medvedev, the agency said in a report. During the trip, Kim commented on the pipeline project, Interfax quoted Ishaev as saying.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il toured industrial facilities in northeastern China on Friday on his way back home from a trip to Russia, a source said.
Kim visited the facilities in the Chinese city of Qiqihar, a hub of automobile industries, and Daqing, home to China's largest oilfield, the source said.
After the tour, the North Korean leader met with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency. During the talks, Kim told the Chinese official that North Korea wants the six-party talks to be opened without any pre-conditions attached, the news agency reported.
(Yonhap News)