North Korean officials in Beijing talk oil and abductees

North Korea’s deputy premier Ro Tu Chol signed an agreement with China’s vice premier Zeng Peiyan for their two countries to jointly explore and develop oil fields, apparently setting aside territorial uncertainties in seas between the two countries.

Chinese geologists estimated in 2002 that offshore fields in the West Bay basin area off North Korea may contain 3 billion tonnes (21.9 billion barrels) of oil and gas.