Valdai Club

Relations between the two Koreas have entered a phase of cooperation and reconciliation but history shows that it may be followed by another period of confrontation. South Korean society is about fifty-fifty in its attitude to cooperating or deterring North Korea.

Moscow hopes that Seoul will play a more active role in the "peaceful, political settlement, working out reciprocal steps in this process". The parties agreed that this remains "the only possible way to make progress in resolving the problems existing in the sub-region".

The Putin-Kim summit has a symbolic meaning. It has restored Russia’s position in the resolution of the Korean issue and outlined a scenario which could serve as an alternative to a return to tensions. Now, a scenario where negotiations resume has become more realistic, even in a multilateral format.

North Korea and Russia are planning to meet in the near future, amid the aftermath of the frustratingly unsuccessful US-DPRK summit. The state visit could increase both Russia's value in the Korean diplomatic process and Russia’s role as a mediator between other nations. This will give the summit’s participants more freedom to manoeuvre, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) Professor Georgy Toloraya, executive director of Russian National Research Committee on BRICS research, says.

The second summit of US President Donald Trump and leader of the DPRK Kim Jong-un took place in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, on February 27–28. High hopes were pegged on this summit: the sides were expected to push forward the denuclearization process of the Korean Peninsula and also to reach agreements on the end of the state of war.

The Korean theme at the Eastern Economic Forum-2018 is the most notable. This is not accidental, because a moment of truth came for Russian policy towards the Korean Peninsula. It is time to choose whether we will actively pursue our line or adapt ourselves to the strategy and tactics of other countries, taking into account common geopolitical interests.

Normal working relations with Pyongyang is the trump card that Russia can use in the complex diplomatic game around North Korea. Professor Georgy Toloraya, Executive Director of the Russian National Committee on BRICS research, Director of the Asian strategy center at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke in an interview with valdaiclub.com about the importance of the planned Putin-Kim summit and how it can contribute to the solution of security issues on the Korean peninsula.

If they ask, “What BRICS is about?” the answer will be: “BRICS is about the world order”. It creates its own structure of global governance. Therefore, this group should offer the world an alternative model of socio-economic development based on the market and new technologies, but different from the current system that assumes the dominance of the West.

On June 22, 2018, Russian president Vladimir Putin met with South Korean president Moon Jae-in. Professor Georgy Toloraya, Executive Director of the Russian National Committee on BRICS Research, spoke in an interview with www.valdaiclub.com about the results of the meeting, economic cooperation between the two countries and the role of Russia in solving problems on the Korean peninsula.

In reality nothing happened: the signed document has the general character. It repeated everything that was already mentioned in other documents of the United States and North Korea since the "framework agreement" of 1994.  From now on, North Koreans will play along to the Americans. They have achieved the main thing: if the negotiations continue, North Korea is already unconditionally recognized as a nuclear power.