Leaders of N. Korea, Russia hold talks on nuclear, energy issues

The Kremlin released a statement earlier in the day that confirmed that the two leaders would discuss ways to resume the disarmament-for-aid talks Pyongyang walked away from in 2009. The North conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, though it has expressed its interest in rejoining the nuclear talks that also involve South Korea, China, Russia and Japan. Last month, its diplomats met with their U.S. counterparts in New York to discuss the matter. Still, the North has recently threatened to strengthen its nuclear deterrent in response to South Korea-U.S. military drills that Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for invasion. The North has insisted it was compelled to develop nuclear weapons due to a U.S. threat. Seoul and Washington have called on Pyongyang to demonstrate its denuclearization commitment before returning to the six-party talks. Seoul also urged Pyongyang to take responsibility for its two deadly attacks on the South last year. Kim and Medvedev are also expected to discuss types of economic cooperation that also involve South Korea, the Kremlin said, in an apparent reference to Moscow's idea of laying a pipeline through the Korean Peninsula to sell Siberian natural gas to South Korea, one of the world's largest buyers of natural gas. Last year, South Korea imported 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas from Russia, accounting for roughly one-twentieth of Seoul's total imports, according to South Korea's state-run Korea Gas.Last month, a delegation of the Russian gas firm Gazprom visited North Korea. The North has reacted "positively" to the pipeline project, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his South Korean counterpart in Moscow earlier this month. The project, if realized, could help ease tensions on the peninsula and bring much-needed hard currency to North Korea. North Korea could expect to earn more than US$500 million a year in handling charges over the gas pipeline, according to South Korean analysts. Russia has rich natural gas and other resources that Moscow could use to counterbalance China's growing influence in North Korea. North Korea has relied heavily on China for trade, aid and diplomatic support since the collapse of the Soviet Union two decades ago. Kim toured Bureiskaya hydroelectric plant in eastern Siberia's Amur region before reaching Ulan-Ude, where he swam in a pool filled with water from Lake Baikal and visited an aircraft plant.