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Koreas Agree to Study Feasibility of Natural-gas Pipeline Link
DPRK has agreed to allow South Korea to conduct a feasibility study for a pipeline to transport natural gas from Russia through DPRK's territory to the South, officials said on Monday.
The possible inter-Korean pipeline link is part of an US$11 billion project that would also supply gas to China.
The South's commerce, industry and energy ministry said on Monday that a six-man delegation held two-day talks with DPRK officials in Pyongyang last week.
"The two sides will sign an accord on the joint feasibility study in Pyongyang by the end of this month," Jeong Dae-Jin of the ministry said.
Businesses from Russia, China and South Korea are jointly developing natural gas in Irkutsk in central Siberia, about 4,000 kilometers (2,480 miles) north of Seoul. Supply could well start in 2008.
South Korea has considered building the pipeline either through DPRK or under the sea from China.
South Korea wants to buy about seven million tonnes of natural gas annually -- 40 percent of its needs -- over 30 years from the Irkutsk field believed to hold 840 million tonnes now.
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