Far East Gas Pipeline
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he might consider the construction of a gas pipeline beneath the East Sea in order to export Russian natural gas to South Korea.
According to the Interfax news agency, the President revealed the idea at the APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia on October 7 (local time).
Putin’s remarks are drawing a lot of attention, since the North’s nuclear issues have brought the project for a gas pipeline via North Korea to a standstill. The project is getting nowhere, after S. Korea and Russia agreed to build a gas pipeline from Russia’s Far East to S. Korea that bypasses N. Korea during former South Korean President's visit to Russia in 2008.
Experts estimate that the construction of a 1,100 kilometer gas pipeline via N. Korea would cost US$2.5 billion.
The news agency said, “The gas pipeline construction project will be high on the agenda at the summit meeting between President Park Geun-hye and President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Korea, scheduled in mid-November.”