The chief of the ruling Grand National Party said Tuesday that a proposal for the construction of a gas pipeline that would ship Russian natural gas through the Korean Peninsula has the potential to unite the two Koreas behind a single project at a time of flaring tensions. Rep. Hong Joon-pyo made the remarks after Russia and North Korea last week made progress on a Russian proposal to ship large amounts of Siberian natural gas to the South via a pipeline to be built across the North.