Talking to RIA Novosti here today, people at the regional administration's press service noted that governor Malakhov made this proposal during his talks with South Korea's consul-general in Vladivostok Jong Dae Wang.
Both men discussed the joint implementation of Sakhalin oil-and-gas projects, construction of the Russian-Korean friendship house in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and the Korean diaspora's problems. The creation of Sakhalin and Kuriles free economic zones was the main subject of their talks.
The Russian Economic Development and Trade Ministry's working group is expected to visit Sakhalin for analyzing the projected creation of free economic zones.
According to experts, economic ties between Sakhalin and South Korea are developing actively. Russia's Far Eastern shipping company delivers containers from Kholmsk, Sakhalin, to Pusan, South Korea. Sakhalin exports coal, timber, fish and scrap metal.
South Korea is now building three huge tankers for Sakhalin.
Each tanker will displace 105,000 tons. All tankers will be launched early this fall. The Far Eastern shipping company plans to transport Sakhalin-shelf oil inside them.
South Korea has been receiving oil from the Okhotsk Sea shelf since 2002 in line with the Sakhalin-2 project. Project participants also won a tender for the delivery of liquefied natural gas to South Korea earlier this year. South Korea is to receive 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas each year.
