North Korea’s new leadership has reaffirmed that the construction of a pipeline to transport Russian natural gas through North Korea and into South Korea should be carried out without a hitch.

Russia’s Minister of Energy Sergei Shmatko unveiled the position of the North’s new leadership when he met with South Korea’s Ambassador to Russia, Wi Sung-lac, on Thursday in Moscow.

Shmatko added that a key task regarding the gas pipeline project is promoting negotiations on setting prices for the natural gas that will be transported.

Last August, late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed to a trilateral agreement on building the pipeline.