MOSCOW-- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has expressed support for a Russian project to pipe Siberian natural gas to South Korea through his country's territory, a Russian news agency said Friday, quoting a Russian official.

   The gas pipeline project was a major topic when Kim held a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a Siberian city earlier this week. The two countries said after the summit that they have agreed to set up a joint committee to push the project.

   In a meeting with reporters in Khabarovsk after the summit, Viktor Ishaev, Russia's presidential envoy to the Far East Federal District, quoted Kim as telling him separately that North Korea will permit the pipeline to go through its territory if Russia and South Korean sign a contract on the project, according to the Interfax news agency.   

Ishaev said he had a chat with Kim as he was assigned to escort

Kim throughout his train journey for the summit with Medvedev, the agency said in a report. During  the trip, Kim commented on the pipeline project, Interfax quoted Ishaev as saying.

   According to the report, Kim ruled out the possibility that North Korea would participate in any consortium for the pipeline project, indicating that the country would be interested in collecting transit handling fees only. (Yonhap)