Seoul-Moscow Relations: Looking to the 1990s

South Korean Economic Relations with Russia

“…10,000 km from Seoul to Moscow), as well as the fact that nearly 60,000 ethnic Koreans live in the Russian Far East. Accordingly, many observers appear to believe that South Korea and the Russian Far East could benefit from an economic complementarity in which the former supplies consumer goods while the latter exports raw materials for South Korea's industries (Lho, 1989(Lho, , p. 1163Andrianov, 1991, pp. 248-251;Drysdale, 1991, p. 3).…”

South Korea’s Detent with Soviet Russia: Building Diplomatic Relationship through Science and Technology Diplomacy, 1988–1998

“…In the 1970s, during the détente between the United States and the Soviet Union, South Korea began to seek ways to approach Communist bloc countries. President Park Chung Hee issued the June 23 Statement, expressing a desire to "open its doors, on the principle of reciprocity and equality, to all countries regardless of differences in ideologies and systems" (quoted in Lho, 1989Lho, , p. 1154). 2 This announcement was made in response to the change in the international order that seemed to head towards peaceful coexistence.…”

“…South Korea pursued the Northern Policy with more confidence and ambition. The policy aimed to establish two interrelated goals: first, to establish relationship with Eastern bloc countries, mainly with the Soviet Union and China; and second, to use these diplomatic ties as a leverage over North Korea to reduce tension in the Korean Peninsula (Lho, 1989). In 1988, President Roh Tae-woo delivered the July 7 Statement, which asserted that South Korea was "willing to cooperate with North Korea in improving its relations with our allies including the United States and Japan" and would "seek to improve relations with the Soviet Union and China and other socialist countries, in order to create conditions for establishing peace in the Korean peninsula" (NAK 1982).…”

Impossible Allies? When History and Security Collide: South Korea—Japan Relations in Context

“…As late as 1985, the year Gorbachev came to power, the Soviet Union expanded military cooperation with North Korea, with the DPRK granting Soviet military aircraft access to North Korean airspace and allowing Soviet naval vessels entry into key ports in North Korea. In return, Moscow increased technical, military, and economic aid to North Korea, including the MiG-23 fighter long coveted by Pyongyang (Khil, 1990: 67-73;Lho, 1989Lho, : 1153Lho, -1166.…”

“…Trade offices were established in Seoul and Moscow later the same year. Commerce between the two countries increased by 150 percent between the first quarters of 1988 and 1989, after a 39 percent increase the previous year (Lho, 1989(Lho, : 1154.…”