Lee optimistic about tripartite economic cooperation with Russia, N. Korea By Yoo Cheong-mo

MOSCOW, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Tuesday that his ongoing official visit to Russia has resulted in important diplomatic achievements in terms of energy resources, economics and security diplomacy.

Lee said his summit agreements with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to build a
South Korea-North Korea-Russian natural gas pipeline and a South Korea-only port
near the North Korean-Russian border, as well as linking the inter-Korean railway
to the trans-Siberian railway (TSR) will help South Korea drastically reduce its
international logistics costs.
In a breakfast meeting with Korean reporters in Moscow, Lee described the
potential economic benefits from the Russian-Korean gas pipeline as too
attractive to be ignored by North Korea.
Lee also said South Korea's strategic cooperative partnerships with both Russia
and China will be very advantageous to the nation's national security in case of
an emergency on the Korean Peninsula.
Touching on the current global financial turmoil, the president forecast that his
government's preemptive measures will eventually help stabilize the Korean
financial market, as well as the foreign exchange market.
Lee and Medvedev agreed at a Kremlin summit Monday to continue to work together
to link the trans-Korean railway and the TSR. Lee and Medvedev formally
recognized the importance of the railroad project in their 10-point joint summit
statement.
"Pyongyang is expected to show an interest in the proposed gas pipeline link with
South Korea and Russia, due to its considerable economic effects. The economic
benefits for North Korea could be far bigger than its previous cooperation
projects with South Korea in Kaesong and at Mount Geumgang," said Lee at the
meeting.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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