Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the USA

President Lee Myung-bak and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev agreed to expand cooperation between South Korea and Russia in the fields of economy, energy, resources and industrial technology.

The two leaders also agreed to upgrade bilateral ties from the status of a comprehensive partnership to that of a strategic cooperative partnership.
In the summit, held at the Kremlin on Monday (Sept. 29 Moscow time), the two leaders agreed to send Russian natural gas through a pipeline to South Korea via North Korea starting from 2015.

Russia will send at least 7.5 million tons of natural gas annually for a period of 30 years through a pipeline linking Vladivostok in Russia and South Korea through North Korea, under a contract signed by Korea Gas Corp. and Russia's Gazprom. This volume of gas amounts to an estimated 20 percent of South Korea's annual natural gas consumption.

After the Kremlin summit, South Korea and Russia issued a joint statement designed to promote the strategic and cooperative partnership across the board, including economy, politics, diplomacy, security, defense, energy and aerospace and polar development between the two countries.

Both countries also agreed to hold various cultural and tourism events to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationships in 2010.
South Korea further expressed its support for Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization.

In regard to the North Korean nuclear issue, President Lee expressed optimism about tripartite economic cooperation with Russia and North Korea, saying the two presidents agreed to work together to promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and peace in Northeast Asia.

President Lee said his summit agreements with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will help South Korea reduce its international logistics costs since the agreements contain projects to build a South-North Korea-Russian natural gas pipeline project, a South-Korea-only port near the North Korean-Russian border and linking the inter-Korean railway to the trans-Siberian railway.

Stressing the partnerships with Russia and China, President Lee said Korea's cooperative partnerships with both Russia and China will be beneficial to the country's national security.