Body
Yet another post on the damn pipeline? Enough already!
Sorry, but it wasn’t us. We were floored when a reporter actually asked LMB about it at the Obama-Lee press conference, taking a skeptical line straight out of the Witness to Transformation blog. “If this gas line project proceeds as planned, then we would have to provide or compensate North Korea with a substantial amount of money or other forms of compensation. So in your opinion, President Lee, do you think that the gas line pipe project will be able to proceed without resolving the North Korean nuclear issue?”
President Lee appeared taken aback as well (“I don't know if that’s a question that I should be answering here in the United States....”) But his answer is worth reproducing here in full:
“In the Far East, we have been discussing this issue for quite some time in trying to import Russian gas into the Republic of Korea. Now, we’re discussing, right now with the North Koreans, whether the Russian gas -- which is quite affordable -- can travel through North Korea and be imported and be used in South Korea.
This is beneficial, first of all, for Russians because they can sell their natural resource. For North Korea it is beneficial because they could use this natural resource, and also beneficial for South Korea as well. But let me just remind you that South Korea, North Korea and Russia haven’t yet come together to discuss this issue in any detail. But from an economic standpoint of view, it is beneficial for all parties involved. But I understand that this issue is not just economics alone. This issue, inevitably, involves security matters, which we will consider very closely.
And, also, let me remind you that this project will not be implemented anytime soon. Of course we are mindful of the progress that we are making with regards to the North Korean nuclear issue as well."
Presidents are not necessarily reliable in press conferences as we all know, but in case you missed it:
- The South Koreans are talking “now” to the North Koreans on the pipeline; that’s news to us.
- Although the President sidestepped direct linkage with the nuclear issue, he did underscore that this was not simply an economic venture. The unanswered question is whether he sees the pipeline as part of the political-economic toolkit for breaking the North-South logjam, or whether it is in fact hostage to that logjam.
- Clearly, the public assessment is a little more sober than a couple of weeks ago, which would tilt toward the latter interpretation. Lee emphasized that the three parties have not discussed the project in any detail, and it will “not be implemented any time soon.”
