ID :
202573
Sun, 08/21/2011 - 14:23
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/202573
The shortlink copeid
N. Korean leader tours power station ahead of talks with Medvedev
(ATTN: UPDATES with Kim's departure for summit venue in eastern Siberia; ADDS context)
By Kim Kwang-tae
SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il toured a hydro-electric power station in eastern Siberia on Sunday in the second day of his trip to Russia, diplomatic sources said.
Kim's trip to the Bureiskaya hydro-electric power station in the Amur region fueled speculation that the two countries could discuss enhancing bilateral cooperation in energy.
In recent years, Russia proposed transmitting surplus electricity produced by the power station to the Korean Peninsula. It has also proposed building a pipeline through the divided peninsula to sell Siberian natural gas to South Korea, one of the world's largest natural gas consumers.
The project, if realized, could help ease tensions on the divided peninsula and bring much-needed hard currency to North Korea. North Korea can expect to earn more than US$500 million a year in handling charges over the gas pipeline, according to South Korean analysts.
Tensions still persist on the peninsula over North Korea's two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed 50 people, mostly soldiers. The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
Kim crossed the border on Saturday for his first trip to Russia since 2002 and made a stop in the Russian border city of Khasan before arriving at a train station in the Amur region Sunday morning.
After touring the power station, Kim left for Ulan-Ude, the third-largest city in eastern Siberia, for summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, according to sources.
Pictures of Kim posted on a Russian news website indicated Kim, who suffered a stroke in 2008, has gained some weight and appears to be healthy.
North Korea and Russia did not give a time frame for the summit talks, though an informed source in Moscow said Saturday that the summit will be held in Ulan-Ude on Tuesday.
A South Korean official said Kim is presumed to be heading to Ulan-Ude without stopping after a trip to the Amur region and is expected to arrive at the summit venue on Tuesday, some 3,800 kilometers from the Russian border city of Khasan.
Kim's trip comes as South Korean President Lee Myung-bak prepares to meet with his Mongolian counterpart in Ulaanbaatar, which is about 440 kilometers from Russia's Ulan-Ude. Lee left for Mongolia Sunday for a trip that will also take him to two other central Asian countries, according to his office.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also plans to fly to Mongolia on Monday after concluding his trip to China.
Kim's trip to Russia comes just months after the reclusive leader held summit talks with the Chinese president in Beijing in his third trip to his country's closest ally in just over a year.
The trip will boost "the (North)-Russia friendship," the North's Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch.
The countries' bilateral relations cooled following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the North's former mentor, two decades ago. North Korea has relied heavily on China for trade, aid and diplomatic support in recent years.
Russia and China have been involved in talks to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. The North quit the disarmament-for-aid talks in 2008, but it has expressed interest in rejoining the talks that also involve the two Koreas, the United States and Japan.
Kim's trip came weeks after North Korea and the United States held rare high-level meetings in New York on how to resume the six-nation nuclear talks.
Meanwhile, Kim's heir apparent son, Kim Jong-un, is not accompanying his father on the trip, though top military, economic and other officials, including Vice Premier Kang Sok-ju, were traveling with the North Korean leader, according to the KCNA dispatch.
In May, Kim Jong-un greeted his father in a North Korean border city after his father returned home from a trip to China. The junior Kim, a four-star general, is being groomed to succeed his father as North Korea's next leader.
By Kim Kwang-tae
SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il toured a hydro-electric power station in eastern Siberia on Sunday in the second day of his trip to Russia, diplomatic sources said.
Kim's trip to the Bureiskaya hydro-electric power station in the Amur region fueled speculation that the two countries could discuss enhancing bilateral cooperation in energy.
In recent years, Russia proposed transmitting surplus electricity produced by the power station to the Korean Peninsula. It has also proposed building a pipeline through the divided peninsula to sell Siberian natural gas to South Korea, one of the world's largest natural gas consumers.
The project, if realized, could help ease tensions on the divided peninsula and bring much-needed hard currency to North Korea. North Korea can expect to earn more than US$500 million a year in handling charges over the gas pipeline, according to South Korean analysts.
Tensions still persist on the peninsula over North Korea's two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed 50 people, mostly soldiers. The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
Kim crossed the border on Saturday for his first trip to Russia since 2002 and made a stop in the Russian border city of Khasan before arriving at a train station in the Amur region Sunday morning.
After touring the power station, Kim left for Ulan-Ude, the third-largest city in eastern Siberia, for summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, according to sources.
Pictures of Kim posted on a Russian news website indicated Kim, who suffered a stroke in 2008, has gained some weight and appears to be healthy.
North Korea and Russia did not give a time frame for the summit talks, though an informed source in Moscow said Saturday that the summit will be held in Ulan-Ude on Tuesday.
A South Korean official said Kim is presumed to be heading to Ulan-Ude without stopping after a trip to the Amur region and is expected to arrive at the summit venue on Tuesday, some 3,800 kilometers from the Russian border city of Khasan.
Kim's trip comes as South Korean President Lee Myung-bak prepares to meet with his Mongolian counterpart in Ulaanbaatar, which is about 440 kilometers from Russia's Ulan-Ude. Lee left for Mongolia Sunday for a trip that will also take him to two other central Asian countries, according to his office.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also plans to fly to Mongolia on Monday after concluding his trip to China.
Kim's trip to Russia comes just months after the reclusive leader held summit talks with the Chinese president in Beijing in his third trip to his country's closest ally in just over a year.
The trip will boost "the (North)-Russia friendship," the North's Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch.
The countries' bilateral relations cooled following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the North's former mentor, two decades ago. North Korea has relied heavily on China for trade, aid and diplomatic support in recent years.
Russia and China have been involved in talks to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. The North quit the disarmament-for-aid talks in 2008, but it has expressed interest in rejoining the talks that also involve the two Koreas, the United States and Japan.
Kim's trip came weeks after North Korea and the United States held rare high-level meetings in New York on how to resume the six-nation nuclear talks.
Meanwhile, Kim's heir apparent son, Kim Jong-un, is not accompanying his father on the trip, though top military, economic and other officials, including Vice Premier Kang Sok-ju, were traveling with the North Korean leader, according to the KCNA dispatch.
In May, Kim Jong-un greeted his father in a North Korean border city after his father returned home from a trip to China. The junior Kim, a four-star general, is being groomed to succeed his father as North Korea's next leader.
