President of Russia Vladimir Putin has said of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, “Pyongyang’s independent path of building up nuclear weapons and missiles in opposition to United Nations Security Council resolutions and the demands of the international community cannot be tolerated.”
The comments were made yesterday during his visit to Seoul, where he met with South Korean President Park Geun Hye.
The heads of state released a joint statement, emphasizing, “According to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), North Korea cannot have nuclear power status.”
“North Korea must comply with its international obligations and promises in terms of the related UN Security Council resolutions and in the area of denuclearization. Collaborative effort is underway with other member states of the six-party talks in order to meet the conditions for a re-start,” the statement continued.
It was also urged that, “Those nations who are not members of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), including North Korea, must join in agreement as soon as possible.”
In support of Park’s Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative and Korean Peninsula Trust-Building Process, it was stated, “The Russian Federation actively supports efforts to build trust on the Korean Peninsula with the important condition of stability and security in the region, and normalization of North-South relations. Both parties welcome President Park’s Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative, and plan to pursue cooperation.”
Park also signed a memorandum of understanding related to the “RasonKonTrans” project, a joint venture between Russia and North Korea. A consortium of three Korean companies (Hyundai Merchant Marine Company, POSCO and KORAIL) will invest 2.1 billion won in distribution and transportation toward modernizing North Korea’s Rajin port, as well as developing a 54km long railroad network connecting Rajin with Khasan in Russia.
South Korea and Russia also indicated their intention to consult in future after considering a piped natural gas project that would introduce Siberian natural gas to South Korea via North Korea.
