Russia Reminds North Korea That Time Is Running Out

Seoul isn¡¯t the only one engaged in a variety of global projects. The Korean Peninsula¡¯s other half, the North, was involved in a series of talks with numerous communist nations for a better future.

For years, Russia expressed its desires to cooperate with North Korea on gas and rail links. A congratulatory message for Korea¡¯s liberation day from Russia to North Korea included their wishes to reopen talks on the stalled gas and rail link projects.

¡°Russia is very willing to enhance cooperation with both South and North Korea by satisfying all mutual concerns, including a three-party plan encompassing Russia and the entire Republic of Korea in the fields of gasification, energy and railway construction,¡± Russian president Dmitry Medvedev was quoted in the message.

The ambitious project to supply Russian natural gas to South Korea via North Korea was supported by President Lee Myung-bak when it was first introduced. The project had an important economic significance since the South would be able to receive at least 7.5 million tons of natural gas from Russia annually. The pipeline could have been a key to stabilizing the current situation in Northeast Asia and denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Although Moscow was busy discussing with Pyongyang about the joint feasibility of constructing a pipeline that will cross the Korean Peninsula for delivery through the North, the recent relations between the two Koreas have soured the prospects of the $100-billion pipeline project. Sources have confirmed that the nation¡¯s government had initially planned to begin the construction of the pipeline that would run from Vladivostok to South Korea this year.

Another prospect that subsequently went cold was the linking of the Trans-Siberian Railway with the Trans-Korea Railway to creat¬Ö a grand network between Russia and Korea.

It has been reported North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has sent a positive reply to Medvedev expressing the North¡¯s support for bilateral projects that serve the two countries¡¯ mutual interests. South Korea is currently promoting the project by reminding the North of its lucrative potential while stressing the financial advantages the fuel dependent South and North can mutually enjoy due to low delivery costs.