S. Korea committed to building Russian gas pipeline through N. Korea

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told Sputnik on Tuesday that South Korea will continue to promote the construction plans for a gas pipeline from Russia through North Korea, and this is likely not going to change after the presidential election.

The Minister spoke at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club, saying that South Korea had joined the international effort aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in which natural gas plays a significant role.

He added that the project will lead Pyongyang to realize that cooperation with the international community is able to change its economy and consequently contribute to the cause of peace on the peninsula.

"Because of these two reasons, whatever government comes next, it will have to promote the construction of the pipeline, which connects Russia, North and South Korea," Kim said.

Such a pipeline has been the subject of discussion for almost 20 years.

In 2003, Russian Gazprom and South Korean KOGAS signed a deal that included possible deliveries of Russian gas to South Korea. The two companies inked in 2011 a roadmap on the implementation of the 1,100-kilometer pipeline project. KOGAS estimated the cost of building the 700-kilometer segment through North Korea at $2.5 billion.