The government says potential investment by South Korean firms in a rail project linking cities in North Korea and Russia does not mean Seoul will lift sanctions banning all trade and investment with the North.
 
Unification Ministry deputy spokeswoman Park Soo-jin told reporters Wednesday that Seoul's stance has not changed regarding the co-called "May 24th sanctions."
 
The South Korean government issued the sanctions in May 2010 following the sinking of the South Korean naval corvette Cheonan earlier that year. 
 
Park said, however, the measure does not apply to foreign companies and their joint ventures with South Korean corporations headquartered abroad.
 
She added the Seoul government remains unchanged in its position regarding the sanctions.
 
In an interview with KBS in Moscow ahead of the South Korea-Russia summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hopes for South Korean companies’ active participation in a project linking the Russian border town of Khasan with North Korea’s port of Rajin.