Maizuru contemplating sea link to Nakhodka, S. Korean port

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, March 3 Kyodo -
Officials of the Japanese port city Maizuru on the Sea of Japan coast have met
with their counterparts from the Russian port city of Nakhodka to discuss the
commercial viability of opening a regular shipping route between the two sister
cities, Maizuru officials said Wednesday.
The prospect of closer economic ties among the Japanese, Russian and Korean
coastal regions surrounding the Sea of Japan has prompted several port cities
in the region to set up shipping routes.
Maizuru, which has sister-city ties with Nakhodka, is interested in setting up
a regular shipping route for passenger and cargo traffic linking the two cities
via the South Korean port city Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province.
The Maizuru city government has commissioned consultants to look into the
commercial viability of the project. The talks in Nakhodka are part of the
plan.
Nakhodka Mayor Oleg Kolyadin, who met the Maizuru mission on Tuesday, has also
shown interest in establishing a regular sea route to Maizuru.
''If a new shipping route is set up, the economic ties between Nakhodka and
Maizuru will get a new dimension,'' Kolyadin told his Japanese visitors.
Maizuru and Nakhodka mark the 50th anniversary of their sister-city ties next
year.
A shipping route linking the Japanese port city Sakaiminato in Tottori
Prefecture, the South Korean eastern port city Tonghae and Vladivostok opened
in June last year.
Another shipping route linking Niigata in Japan, Sokcho in South Korea and the
Russian Far East was also opened in June last year, but operation was suspended
after two and a half months for lack of business.
==Kyodo