Implementation of three-party projects between Russia and South and North Korea will help normalize the situation on the Korean Peninsula, President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday.
Medvedev told South Korean media on the eve of his visit to Seoul that the joint projects include the construction of a pipeline to pump Russian gas via North Korea and linking the Trans-Korean Railroad with the Trans-Siberian Railway.
He said that implementation of such projects is possible only if "tensions reduce on the Korean Peninsula and if the two Koreas follow the path of national reconciliation."
Rail monopoly Russian Railways and North Korea's Railways Ministry signed a contract on the reconstruction of a 34-mile railroad section from Russia's Khasan station to North Korea's port of Rason (formerly Rajin) in 2008.
Medvedev also called to prevent a military and political crisis on the Korean Peninsula and reiterated Moscow's position that North Korea's nuclear issue can only be resolved by diplomatic means.
The Russian leader also said Russia shares the feelings of South Koreans over the death of its corvette in March.
Ties between Seoul and Pyongyang dropped to a new low after Seoul accused Pyongyang of sinking the 1,200-ton South Korean Cheonan corvette. The vessel sunk near the disputed Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea on March 26 causing the loss of 46 lives.
The two countries remain technically at war, since no peace treaty was signed following the Korean War in 1953. The so-called Demilitarized Zone between the countries is the most heavily armed border in the world.
MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti)
