By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak said his administration is willing to talk with North Korea to start a project to link the trans-Korean railway to Russia's trans-Siberian railway.
``I hope North Korea will show interest in the project, which will bring lots of economic benefits to it,'' Lee said at his meeting with Russian journalists in Moscow Monday. ``Russia will ask North Korea first to participate in the venture. South Korea then will propose inter-Korean talks to the North, if it agrees to the idea.''
Lee said the project will help consolidate peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.
Seoul and Moscow agreed Monday to push for the envisioned rail link between the two countries through North Korea for its eventual connection with Europe following the summit between President Lee Myung-bak and President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow.
The two countries also agreed to set up a pipeline to deliver gas from Russia to South Korea through the North by 2015 at the earliest. Under the plan, South Korea will receive about 7.5 million tons of natural gas per year from the world's second-largest producer of oil and largest source of natural gas.
Lee will return to Seoul today after ending a three-day official visit to Russia.
Lee told reporters after his summit with Medvedev that the railway link between the two Koreas and Europe via Russia would help boost global peace and ease tensions in Northeast Asia.
Regarding the prospect for reunification of South and North Korea, Lee told Russian journalists that he would not take advantage of difficulties in North Korea to push for reunification.
``Consolidating peace on the Korean Peninsula will be crucial to achieve reunification. In this regard, North Korea should first stand on its feet economically,'' Lee said.
The President expressed deep concern about food shortages in North Korea.
``The South Korean people are deeply concerned about North Korea's chronic food shortage problem. I'm ready to help North Korea,'' he said. ``The North can rebuild its economy very rapidly if it abandons nuclear weapons and opens itself to the outside world.''