MOSCOW. Oct 19 (Interfax) - Moscow believes that implementation of tripartite (Russia, North Korea and South Korea) economic programs on the Korean peninsula will bring not only the economic results, but also promote the inter-Korean dialog, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"We are convinced that the implementation of the tripartite programs will not only secure hefty economic dividends for all participants, but will also contribute heavily to the creation of a favorable atmosphere for the inter-Korean dialog, stronger security and stability on the Korean peninsula," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin said at a reception at the North Korean Embassy in Moscow.
"This, in turn, is an important condition for settling the nuclear problem," he said.
Russia is willing "to continue to collaborate with Korean friends for the sake of swift resumption of six-party talks and achieving the common goal - to free the Korean peninsula from nuclear weapon and to work out a multilateral mechanism of ensuring peace in northeast Asia," Borodavkin said.
"We reaffirmed Russia's willingness to pay primary attention to the implementation of the tripartite economic projects: putting a gas pipeline and a power transmission line in the south of the Korean peninsula and connecting the Korean railroads with Transsib [Russia's Trans-Siberian railway]," the deputy minister said.
The pilot railway project has already entered its final stage - on October 13 a train was tested on a Russian-reconstructed stretch of line between the Russian-Korean border and the port of Rason, which will also be modernized and where the Russian Railways company will set up an inter-modal terminal, Borodavkin said.
The reception is being held on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the Russian-North Korean diplomatic relations.
Pyongyang invariably calls for further strengthening and development of friendship and cooperation with Russia, North Korean Ambassador to Russia Kim Yong-Jae said.
"We will do everything in our power for further development and expansion of friendship and cooperation between our countries in various areas on the basis of the Korean-Russian joint declaration and the Moscow Declaration between North Korea and Russia, as well as in the spirit of the Agreement on friendship, good neighborhood and cooperation between North Korea and Russia," he said.