North Korea Could Get Gas from Russia's Sakhalin

Russia may soon begin supplying gas from Sakhalin to North Korea via the Khasan to Rajin route, according to the South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo.

The deal could be signed when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un travels to Moscow for the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s World War II victory over Nazi Germany on May 9.

During the visit, Kim and Putin are expected to negotiate an agreement on a gas pipeline project that will connect Vladivostok and Khasan to North Korea’s sea port of Rajin, said a key government official in Seoul on Friday, reported JoongAng Ilbo. 

A source told the newspaper that Russia had started building the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas pipeline in 2011, adding that "after the gas pipeline is connected, North Korea will be able to build an electric power plant to meet its requirements for electricity."

The natural gas pipeline project gained momentum last May after Putin wrote off 90 percent of North Korea’s debt that amounted to some $11 billion.