By Lee Hana

President Moon Jae-in met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Nov. 14 on the sidelines of the ASEAN+3 summit and the East Asia Summit (EAS) held in Manila.

The two leaders evaluated the promising outcomes of the Korea-Russia strategic partnership, which will reach its 10th anniversary next year.

President Moon and Prime Minister Medvedev shared the opinion that they should work together to make the Korea-Russia relationship play a pivotal role in spreading peace and prosperity across the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia and Eurasia. They also agreed that moving forward they should expand their cooperation on trade, personnel exchanges, sports and the arts.

"That our two countries have been able to cooperate closely on a number of issues at the highest level is proof of just how much our relationship has flourished over the years. This year, we expanded our trade volume more than 50 percent compared to last year, making a full economic recovery. In addition to unprecedented number of exchanges in terms of human resources, we have seen many fruitful outcomes across various sectors. I'm very happy with these results," said President Moon.

"Korea hopes to cooperate with Russia on developments in the Far East, aided by the Northern Economic Cooperation Committee. As outlined in Korea's New Northern Policy, we will work to develop 'nine bridges' between Korea and Russia, in sectors such as shipbuilding, shipping and ports, and in developing Polar shipping routes," said the president.

"Next year, when the Korea-Russia strategic partnership reaches its 10th anniversary, our countries will play host to the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. It's my hope that our citizens will use these international events as opportunities to build lasting friendships," he said.

To this, Prime Minister Medvedev said, "The economic cooperation you mentioned, referred to as the 'nine bridges,' will help to establish working relations between Korean and Russian firms in a number of different sectors. Moreover, the Russian government is ready to turn these ideas into reality."

"I agree that our relationship has taken huge leaps over the past few years. It's important that we maintain and develop our cooperation on personnel exchanges, arts and culture, education and sports. I think the time has come for us to discuss the tourism industry, which has picked up pace in recent years," said the prime minister.

hlee10@korea.kr