POHANG (the Republic of Korea), November 8. /TASS/. South Korea’s city of Pohang and Russia’s Vladivostok may be linked by a ferry in the near future, Pohang Mayor Lee Kang-Deok said on Thursday at the first Russian-Korean Forum of Interregional Cooperation.

"A direct ferry line is to open soon between Pohang and Vladivostok. It will link these two cities with North Korea’s ports in the future, which will help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and help all countries develop mutually beneficial economic cooperation," the city mayor stressed.

He noted that the Korean side considers the organization of transport communication between these two ports a major item of interregional cooperation. In particular, it will make it possible to deliver Russian coal for the steel works POSCO, which is located in Pohang, and link the South Korean city with the Northeast Passage.

Lee Kang-Deok called on the South Korean and Russian authorities to create a bilateral platform for constant communication, for example in the form of a secretariat which would make it possible to quickly solve arising issues and problems. The Pohang mayor also noted the necessity to change from raw material trading, which prevails in the bilateral trade turnover, to the joint processing and exports of finished products.

Pohang, a city of 530,000, is located in the south-east of the Republic of Korea. It is the largest steel production center in the country. The city’s commercial seaport provides cargo turnover of 50 million tonnes.

The official part of the forum was launched on November 8. It involves nine entities of the Russian Far Eastern Federal District and 17 regions of the Republic of Korea. At the event representatives for regional governments, experts and businessmen are discussing prospects for the development of bilateral economic cooperation.