March 28, 2024
News

Russia, eying pipeline, forgives N. Korean debt

Expert says regional instability means project still an unlikely one

Russia has formally written off 90 percent of North Korea’s debt, apparently to enable the construction of the much-talked-of gas pipeline that would stretch from Russia through the North and into the South.

The lower house of the Russian Duma on Friday ratified a 2012 agreement to write off nearly $10 billion in North Korean debt, left over from the Soviet era. The total debt was equivalent to $10.96 billion as of September 2012.

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