LEAD) Lee optimistic about tripartite economic cooperation with Russia, N. Korea

MOSCOW/SAINT PETERSBURG, 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.
"It may not be easy to persuade North Korea over the gas pipeline project
immediately within this year. But if Russia actively spearheads the effort,
negotiations with North Korea would be completed before gas pipelines are being
installed (in the Russian section) between Vladivostok and Hasan," he said.
But Lee said he was very careful in predicting the outcome of negotiations with
North Korea, as it still remains unclear how the North would respond.
The summit agreement calls for sending 7.5 million tons of Russian pipeline
natural gas annually to South Korea via North Korea for a period of 30 years
starting in 2015.
The president then gave a lengthy explanation of his government's bid to build a
Korea-only port and logistics complex on Russian soil near the Tumen River, which
runs along its North Korean border.
Mentioning Possyet as a potential site for the port, Lee said the Russian port is
blessed with many advantages, including deep water, and will help South Korea
drastically reduce logistics costs for its cargo bound for Europe.
"The new Russian port will be utilized by our country until the inter-Korean
railroad is linked to the TSR. Even after the rail link is realized, economic
benefits from the port would still be enormous," said Lee.
Lee also gave special meaning to capping off summit diplomacy with all the four
superpowers surrounding the Korean Peninsula.
"The U.S., Russia, China and Japan could be among the superpowers related to
Northeast Asia. Our upgraded relations with all four is actually a very important
change," said Lee.
"Its economic implications are enormous ... In the event of an emergency on the
Korean Peninsula, the upgraded relations with the four would be very beneficial
to us. We have also established steady consultation channels with them."
ycm@yna.co.kr
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