Russian President Dmitry Medvedev struck a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on a gas export pipeline to South Korea during talks in Russia's Buryatia region on Wednesday.
North Korea has been in negotiations with Russian gas giant Gazprom on a pipeline that would be laid through its territory to neighboring South Korea. Reports suggest such a deal could be worth around $100m a year for the North.
“As for gas cooperation, we have results. We’ve ordered our government bodies to establish a special commission…to outline the details of bilateral cooperation on gas transit through the territory of North Korea and the joining of South Korea to the project,” Medvedev said.
Medvedev said that the technical work on the pipeline would start soon.
Kim also told Medvedev during the talks that North Korea is ready to resume six-party talks on its nuclear program without preconditions, the Russian president’s spokeswoman, Natalia Timakova, said.
“During the talks, they will be ready to introduce a moratorium on the production of nuclear materials and on [nuclear] tests,” she said.
Kim, who has been on a visit to Russia since the end of last week, met with Medvedev in a hotel in the town of Sosnovy Bor.
The meeting also included discussions on Pyongyang’s nuclear program and possible food aid for North Korea.
Talks touched upon the North’s $11 billion debt to the former Soviet Union, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak said.
“First of all they should recognize Russia as the Soviet Union’s successor,” Storchak said.
He added that the second stage of the talks would be about the means of payment, since the loan had been granted in rubles at an exchange rate of 60 kopeks to the dollar.
The North Korean leader is making his first visit to Russia since 2002. He arrived in an armored train on Saturday. Rail travel is Kim's preferred mode of transport, due to a reported fear of flying.
On Tuesday, Kim visited Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's largest lake, and a helicopter plant.
He told journalists on Wednesday his journey through Russia's Far East and Siberia had been "pleasant."