South Korea and Russia are successfully enhancing their cooperation on railroads, gas and electric energy, and logistics particularly through the Trans-Siberian Railway which in turn promotes tourism, South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki told Sputnik on Thursday
VLADIVOSTOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th September, 2019) - South Korea and Russia are successfully enhancing their cooperation on railroads, gas and electric energy, and logistics particularly through the Trans-Siberian Railway which in turn promotes tourism, South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki told Sputnik on Thursday.Hong is currently in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok to head his country's delegation at the fifth Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
"As far as I know, last year the leaders of the two states agreed to cooperate on railroads, electric energy and gas," Hong said.
According to the South Korean official, Moscow and Seoul have been carrying out joint research on the matter since last October.
"Additionally, we continue cooperating on logistics using the Trans-Siberian Railway," Hong said.
He added that the intergovernmental cooperation gave an impetus to the development of tourism, as is evident by the growing number of South Koreans who visit Vladivostok - their number has reached 240,000 this year.
"Recently, the South Korean tv broadcasters have been airing programs about Vladivostok, so this city has become one of the most popular touristic destinations among the Korean citizens," he said.
Hong pointed out that next year South Korea and Russia will mark the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations and expressed certainty in his statement that the two countries would continue successfully cooperating toward reaching their common goals.
Seoul and Moscow have long been discussing the ambitious nine-fold cooperation agenda, dubbed "Nine Bridges," that centers on the areas of railroads, Arctic shipping routes, seaports, gas, electricity, fisheries, labor, agriculture and shipbuilding. Particular attention has been given to the goal of connecting the Trans-Korean Railway to the Trans-Siberian Railway, which would establish a direct cargo route from the Korean Peninsula all the way to Europe across Russia.
In August 2018, South Korea shipped its first direct cargo across Russia via the Trans-Siberian railroad the whole journey from easternmost Vladivostok to westernmost St. Petersburg took two weeks. Before then, such shipments were carried out by sea and took at least 43 days.
The fifth EEF began on Wednesday and will run through Friday in Vladivostok. Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency is an official media partner of the event.
