Mick Hartley

South Korean President  Lee Myung-bak was, as we know, nervous about the proposed gas pipeline from Russia through North Korea – with good reason. Now he's in Russia talking to President Dmitry Medvedev (following in the footsteps of the Dear Leader), and may have finally got what he wanted:

President Lee Myung-bak and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday said they will push ahead with a project to build a gas pipeline linking the two countries via North Korea. The two met in St. Petersburg. 

Presidential spokesman Park Jeong-ha said the two leaders "agreed that the Russian natural gas pipeline project involving the North will bring economic benefits to all three countries." 

Lee said the project could contribute to peace on the Korean Peninsula and called for the commercial terms to satisfy the needs of all parties. 

Medvedev said Russia "will take full responsibility for the management of threats to the passage of the gas pipeline through North Korea. Russia will be responsible if the gas supply is cut off."

Good news for South Korea, but do the Russians know what they're letting themselves in for? 

Nikolai Dubik, chief of state-run Russian gas company Gazprom's legal department, said at a Korea-Russia Dialogue forum Tuesday KOGAS and Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding on the timeline of project management in September, envisioning laying the pipeline from 2013 and supplying South Korea with gas from 2017. 

"The two sides agreed to complete negotiations of the basic terms, including the price, by January. They also agreed to conclude a gas supply deal sometime between January and April next year," he said. "We plan to work out a blueprint between March next year and September 2013, and then start laying the pipeline to complete construction by December 2016." 

But a presidential official said there has been no progress in talks on gas supply price or terms of construction since September. "Russia wants to create a conducive atmosphere, but we're cautious because there are still things to negotiate." 

Lee told Medvedev it is true that South Korea is "very concerned" about the safety of the pipeline passing through the North given its military provocations last year. "We expect Russia to cooperate in finding solutions to North Korean issues, including denuclearization," he added.