By Yoon Sojung
Photos = Cheong Wa Dae

President Moon Jae-in emphasized three-way cooperation between South Korea, North Korea and Russia, backed by the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula.

President Moon expressed his views on the future of cooperation between Seoul and Moscow in a joint interview on June 20, one day before his state visit to Russia, with Russian media outlets, including the news agency ITAR-TASS, the newspaper Rossiskaya Gazata and the state broadcaster RTR.

President Moon said, “President Putin and I share a vision for peace and co-prosperity of the Eurasian continent. Both countries share the common goal of denuclearization and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula."

“When peace is established on the Korean Peninsula, an era of inter-Korean cooperation will be in full swing,” he said.

“If that is the case, inter-Korean cooperation should be three-way cooperation, including Russia,” said the president.

In regard to the North Korea-U.S. summit in Singapore, President Moon praised the summit, saying that it was “even more successful than expected.”

He said the meeting made a historic transformation of the Pyeongyang-Washington relationship, which used to be highlighted by hostility and conflict over the past 70 years, and that it helped to turn the relationship toward a new regime of peace.

Regarding the development of the relationship between the leaders of the two Koreas, President Moon said, “Chairman Kim Jong Un expressed his commitment to complete denuclearization.”

“Both Chairman Kim and I believe that inter-Korean cooperation in the future should involve Russia,” said the president.

President Moon mentioned railway networks, gas and electricity as the most promising sectors for trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Pyeongyang and Moscow.

“If the railroad is connected across two Koreas and if it can connect to Russia’s Siberian train system, it will be possible to deliver gods from South Korea to Europe by railroad,” he said.

President Moon also predicted that the supply of Russian natural gas and electricity to North Korea and to Japan would "contribute to the economic prosperity of all countries on the Eurasian continent."




Click the link below for the interview full text
http://tass.com/economy/1010252

arete@korea.kr