Putin to Visit Korea in Mid-November

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Seoul in mid-November, the first among the leaders of a major power to come here since President Park Geun-hye took office.

Putin is expected for a one-day visit right after Park returns from the U.K. on Nov. 5-7. He already met Park on the sidelines of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg on Sept. 6.

Putin, now in his third presidency, came to Korea in 2001 and 2005.

The two leaders are expected to sign a visa waiver agreement and discuss expanding exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.

But they are unlikely to make much progress with a project to run Russian gas pipelines through North Korea that the two countries have been pushing for since 2011, since their ideas what the gas should cost differ widely.

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