N. Korea, Russia to set up working group on pipeline project

MOSCOW, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korean and Russian energy officials have agreed to set up a joint working group to build a gas pipeline that will link the two Koreas and Russia, a Russian energy firm said Thursday.
Gazprom chief Alexei Miller and North Korea's Oil Industry Minister Kim Hui-Yong signed a memorandum following a Thursday meeting to create a joint working group for implementing the project and developing other promising areas of cooperation, Russian energy giant Gazprom said in a statement.
The statement said the two sides discussed practical aspects related to the project and an agreement on the project was reached by the leaders of North Korea and Russia during their meeting in Ulan Ude last month.
Kim had left for Russia on Tuesday, according to Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency.
The South's Korea Gas Corp. President Choo Kang-soo, who headed to Russia on Wednesday, was expected to have talks with the Gazprom CEO, but no statement has been released about the meeting results.
Meanwhile, a source said an anticipated trilateral meeting among the energy officials fell through.
"Since there are agendas to be discussed between Russia and South Korea and Russia and North Korea, a trilateral meeting is likely to take place some time after the results of the bilateral meetings are realized," said the local source.
The ambitious project to build a transnational pipeline shipping Siberian natural gas to South Korea via the communist North has gained momentum in recent weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il discussed the project with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during his trip to Russia last month.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said last week that the project could move forward faster than expected as it would benefit all sides involved.