S.Korea wants closer cooperation with RF in ship-building -ex-pres

MOSCOW (Itar-Tass) - South Korea wants to cooperate with
Russia in the ship-building sector, advisor to the South Korean president,
Kim Young-sam, who was the republic's leader in 1993-1998, told Itar-Tass
on Wednesday.
"In St. Petersburg, Russian and South Korean companies are about to
kick off a joint project providing for the construction of a shipyard in
Kronstadt," he said. "The shipyard will specialize in building
ice-breakers and Arctic vessels."
South Korea's STX will be a partner in the project. "On my part, I am
ready to offer all necessary support to this project and any other similar
projects," he pledged.
In his words South Korea is a recognized world leader in building
ships and shipyards, and St. Petersburg may be "a basic point of presence"
for South Korean companies in Russia's north western areas.
Touching on trade and economic relations between the two countries,
Kim Young-sam noted that "they have been gaining in momentum in recent
time."
"Trade turnover has reached 18 billion U.S. dollars a year," he said.
"Businessmen regularly exchange visits, which encourages closer investment
cooperation."
During his stay in Moscow, Kim Young-sam delivered a lecture at the
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University). He
spoke about his vision of the role of the Asia-Pacific region in the world
politics.
The advisor to the South Korean leader also spoke at the Institute of
Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He called for closer
cooperation between the two countries in such areas as power generation,
natural resources, science and technology, arts and culture.
Back in 1994, Kim Young-sam, then the South Korean President, paid a
visit to Moscow. Now that seventeen years had passed since then, he shared
his opinion of Moscow's new look. "Moscow has changed a lot since then. I
am in an utterly new world. There is so much interesting," he said.
Apart from Moscow, he said he had visited other Russian cities. The
most remarkable, in his words, visit was to the Russian Pacific Fleet base
in Vladivostok. "The visit was so striking both for me and for people of
my country that it can be compared to a flight to the Moon," he recalled.
"Now I often think of making a trip along the Trans-Siberian railway,"
he shared his dream, which, as he put it, "is bound to come true."