MOSCOW, October 28 (RIA Novosti) — Russian and North Korean officials have discussed the possibility of creating a visa-free regime between the two countries, Russia’s Minister for the Development of the Far East Alexander Galushka told reporters.
“A question on the transition to a visa-free regime was placed on the agenda. This was considered to be expedient by both parties,” Galuskha said at a press conference on Tuesday following his visit to North Korea.
Galushka told reporters that the agreement would “not occur instantaneously, but it has been placed on the agenda for the further development of our cooperation, and fixed in the official record signed [by the two sides] at the end of our visit.”
In June, contractors from Russian railway infrastructure firm Mostovik became the first foreigners to receive long-term, multiple entry visas to the secretive country, Russian news sources reported earlier.
Galuskha added that Russia may allow for laborers from North Korea to come to the country to aid it in its ambitious development projects in the Far East, noting that his talks with North Korean officials included “attracting labor from North Korea to implement projects in the Far East.” Russia is planning to build 14 high-priority development territories, which would serve to speed up the development of the rest of the region.
The two countries have agreed to develop a business council, which will organize contacts between businessmen from the two nations. “We have agreed to the establishment of the Russia – DPRK Business Council,” Galushka noted. The Council “will unite businessmen with economic interests abroad who are looking to develop contacts,” said the minister.
Galushka noted that the success of Russian-North Korean economic and trade cooperation depends to a great extent on political and military stability in the Korean Peninsula, and said that the economic and trade cooperation itself would provide for the strengthening of that stability.
Russia has plans to extend its electric power grid into North and eventually South Korea, with Russian infrastructure company RusGidro showing an interest in the project and developing working contacts with its North Korean counterparts, Galushka said. The North Koreans have already agreed to the idea of an energy grid stretching from Russia into South Korea, the minister added.
Russian businessmen have also shown interest in the development of the Kaesong Special Economic Zone, Galushka said. He noted that businessmen who visited the zone were “very satisfied and expressed their interest in becoming residents of the special economic zone.” The territory, located near the border with South Korea, had previously been open only to South Korean businesses, but a recent decision by the North Korean government has opened the zone up to other countries, with Chinese and German investors already showing interest.
Galushka noted that North Korean investors have shown an interest in the agricultural development of the Russian Far East, with Russia’s Far Eastern regions also showing interest. “The most willingness and interest is shown in the Amur region,” he said.
