South Korea and Russia will hold talks later this month over the proposed construction of a gas pipeline through the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the South Korean foreign ministry said Thursday.

The meeting involving representatives from South Korea's Korea Gas and Russian energy company Gazprom comes after Gazprom delegates visited the DPRK to discuss the Russia-proposed project, ministry spokesman Cho Byung-je told a press briefing.

Based on the result of the meeting, Russia and the DPRK are expected to hold further meetings, Cho added without elaborating.

South Korean foreign minister Kim Sung-hwan and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, agreed to hold close consultations regarding the project, Kim said in Moscow recently, calling it a "win-win" deal for the two Koreas.

South Korea is seeking to import more natural gas from Russia starting 2015.