Russian-Korean Relations: Past, Present and Future
SEOUL, November 17, 2015 - The Asia Society Korea Center brought to a close its 2015 Monthly Luncheon Series with a talk from H.E. Alexander A. Timonin, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Korea. Ambassador Timonin entered the diplomatic service in 1980 and has worked in the Russian Embassies of both DPRK and Republic of Korea and was able to give a detailed summary of “Russian-Korean Relations: Past, Present and Future”. His talk started with a brief history of Russia-Korea ties that date back to the 19th Century, and concluded with an account of prospects for further development.
Although Russia and Korea recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of bilateral relations, Ambassador Timonin explained how ties are rooted in a much deeper past. Since the early 19th Century, Russian merchants, diplomats, travelers and scientists have visited and developed relationships in the region. In fact, Russia was one of the first foreign countries to enter the Korean Peninsula during the late Joseon Period, not for expansion but for peaceful purposes, and in 1884 signed the first treaty between the two countries. Following this historical event, Russia exerted considerable political influence in Korea and in 1896 even offered sanctuary at the Russian diplomatic compound to the Korean royal family who were taking refuge from pro-Japanese factions in Seoul. The Russian compound continued to offer a safe haven to Koreans during the Japanese occupation.
Ambassador Timonin went on to say how after the liberation from Japan in 1945, Russia and the U.S attempted to reunify the Peninsular without success, and after the Korean War, Russia ceased diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea and focused only the DPRK. Dialogue between Russia and ROK started again in 1990 and became one of the symbols of the end of the Cold War; in the last 25 years the two countries have managed to achieve a lot. During this period there have been 27 bilateral summits and a recent agreement has been put in place to include regular contact at the highest level.
Culture, trade, and science have all helped strengthen ties and economic cooperation between the two countries continues to increase with bilateral trade standing at 26 billion dollars as of last year. This collaboration is also important to ensure peace and security in the region and through negotiation, Russia hopes to solve the nuclear problem that has surfaced in recent years. Looking to the future, Ambassador hopes to unlock inter-Korea relations and stated that Russia has always supported peaceful reunification. Trilateral projects in the future could see a Trans-Korea Railroad connect with Russian train lines and energy have the potential to be developed and expanded.
Ambassador Timonin is the author of a number of books and articles, covering the issues of providing for peace and security, the development of multilateral economic cooperation at the Korean Peninsula and in the North-East Asia.