On November 27 at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion dedicated to the Russia-DPRK Treaty and the security situation in Northeast Asia.
Since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, there has been a noticeable rapprochement between Russia and the DPRK. An important indicator of this was the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between Russia and the DPRK, signed in June 2024. The West immediately expressed concern about what was happening: according to a statement issued by the NATO Council, “the alliance countries strongly condemn the decisions of the leaders of Russia and the DPRK” and regard it as a “dangerous escalation”. At the same time, Russia has repeatedly emphasised that the Treaty is a logical development of bilateral relations with Pyongyang. In an article for Rodong Sinmun newspaper, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted: “Pyongyang has always been our committed and like-minded supporter, ready to confront the ambition of the collective West to prevent the emergence of a multipolar world order based on justice, mutual respect for sovereignty and consideration of each other’s interests.”
Another unifying factor is the extensive experience of both North Korea and Russia in resisting sanctions. Pyongyang has been under unilateral US sanctions since 1950, and from 2006 to 2017, the UN Security Council adopted ten resolutions tightening sanctions in response to North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests. In March 2022, Russia became an unprecedented leader in the number of restrictive measures imposed against it – more than 5,000 sanctions. However, they have not brought political success to the West. The threat of unilateral restrictive measures in connection with cooperation with the DPRK is unlikely to influence Moscow’s decisions.
How exactly will the provisions of the Treaty between Russia and the DPRK be applied? Will they entail additional sanctions for both parties? How do neighbouring countries – China and South Korea – view the signing of the Treaty? How will this affect the situation in the region? The participants in the discussion will try to answer these and other questions.
Speakers:
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Dmitry Kiku, Deputy Director of the Department for Control over External Restrictions of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation
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Georgy Toloraya, Head of the Center of Russian Strategy in Asia of the Institute of Economics, RAS; Senior Researcher, Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, RAS
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Ilya Dyachkov, Associate Professor of the Department of Japanese, Korean, Indonesian and Mongolian Languages at MGIMO university
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Anton Khlopkov, Director of the Centre for Energy and Security (Moscow)
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Xu Bo,Professor at the Northeast Asia Research Center of Jilin University (Changchun, China)
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Konstantin Asmolov, Leading Research Fellow at the Korean Studies Center, Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Moderator:
- Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club
Working languages: Russian, English.
Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our web site. If you have any questions about the event, please call +79269307763
Links to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VK, Telegram and Dzen.
