Korea has voiced understanding for Yemen's call to reevaluate the prices of gas exported from Yemen, a Yemeni official said on Monday. After his arrival from Korea last Monday, undersecretary of Oil and Minerals Ministry Abdul-Malik Alamah said that he held talks with Korean officials on gas prices. The Korean officials said that they would submit a report on Yemen's request to the Korean leadership.

A delegation from the Ministry under the chairmanship of Abdul-Malik Alama, undersecretary of the minister, visited Korea accompanied with a delegation from the French company Total for gas to negotiate with the Korean side in order to modify gas prices. This visit carries out the president's instructions after his meeting with the president of Total during his visit to France.

Alama said that the delegation held talks with the KOGAZ Company on the reconsideration of the sale agreement with Yemeni liquefied natural gas, according to current prices. "It is not fair that KOGAZ purchase Yemeni gas that is transferred from America and Europe at double the price then to buy from Yemen directly," Alama said, "Review of gas prices is in the interest of all parties, including KOGAZ itself," he added, "There is no legal requirement to change the price," but he confirmed that the Yemeni side is in a serious position of negotiations and flexibility.

Responding to a question posed by Yemen Observer over Yemen's demand to reconsider gas prices the South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Sung hwan said that according to the contract between the Korea Gas Corporation and YLNG regarding the introduction of LNG, which was signed in August of 2005, the renegotiation of the price of LNG is possible in 2014, which is 5 years after the date of its initial export.

"In this regard, I learned that a delegation from the Department of Oil of Yemen is planning to have discussions with the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Korea Gas Corporation. I hope that the matter can be resolved through close cooperation" said the Minister.

Talking about the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Yemen and South Korea he said looking back upon the history of bilateral relations over the past 25 years, Korea and Yemen have developed a friendly relationship in various areas on a consistent basis since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1985. In particular, there has been enhanced cooperation between our two countries in almost every field, including economic, trade, technical, cultural and international cooperation.

"We're very optimistic that these bilateral relations will grow even further through cooperation in the energy and power sectors, assistance in development projects in Yemen, providing scholarships and training programs and supporting human resource development. All this cooperation will serve as a conduit to sustainable growth for Yemen. Also, with more frequent visits and exchanges of government officials, businessmen and members of academia, I believe Korea-Yemen relations will be further strengthened," said the Minister.