MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) – Reunification of the two Koreas is only possible through peaceful talks with mutual interests taken into account, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday ahead of an official visit to South Korea.
“We definitely support the aspiration of Koreans for national unification. It’s a natural process. However, I take as a point of departure that it should be exclusively peaceful and take into account the interests of the North, as well as of the South,” Putin said in an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS.
North and South Korea have remained technically at war since 1953 because no peace treaty was signed following the Korean War. The Demilitarized Zone between the countries serves as a buffer zone and the de-facto border.
“Nothing … should be imposed on the partners, otherwise the process will become destructive instead of having a positive outcome,” the Russian president told the radio and television network, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin.
“And, on the contrary, if the partners’ interests are respected with consideration for the obvious longing of the people … this process can be very fruitful, constructive and bring great and positive results for the international politics, ensuring security in the region, as well as for the economics of the rapidly developing region,” he said.
Putin said such a process was positive for Russia, adding that “cooperation between Russia and Korea as a whole would take on even new aspects” and joint infrastructure projects would be easier to implement.
The Russian leader also said Moscow had a “good and even trusting relationship” with South Korea and had also maintained “good contacts” with the North.
“This is a kind of advantage that Russia has and that, without any doubt, we intend to and we will take to get things moving,” he said in the interview.
Six-party talks to denuclearize North Korea in exchange for aid have been stalled since late 2008. The talks involved Russia, the United States, China, Japan and two Koreas.
