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Third Korea-Russia Forum

The Korea Foundation cosponsored the Third Korea-Russia Forum on September 27-28 with the Diplomatic Academy of Russia to explore ways of strengthening relations between the two countries. Attending the two-day event in Moscow were about 70 prominent individuals from both countries. Twenty members of the Korean delegation, headed by Korea Foundation president Lee In-ho, included deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yim Sung-joon and National Assemblymen Cho Woong-kyu and Hyun Syng-il. On the Russian side were some 30 high-level diplomats and academic figures, including deputy minister of Foreign Affairs A.P. Losyukov, Anatoly Torkunov, rector of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), and Yuri Fokin, director of the Diplomatic Academy of Russia, who led the Russian delegation. They exchanged views on how to strengthen economic and security cooperation between Korea and Russia, and to expand exchanges in the cultural, academic, and media sectors. Voicing concern about the global security order following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, participants on both sides agreed to work to enhance bilateral cooperation to prevent terrorism, which has emerged as an urgent international issue.

Prospects for Korea-Russia Relations
The Russian side was generally unanimous in assessing Korean-Russian relations as having progressed satisfactorily over the last decade. Several Russian participants noted that large business projects, which will require various treaties and joint declarations between the two countries, are in the works. They also noted, however, that bilateral economic exchanges and Korean investment in Russia remain below expectations.

Regarding North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's visit to Russia in August, the Russian participants explained that Russia and North Korea signed a number of treaties that should promote stability on the Korean peninsula and broaden economic relations between the two sides. During the North Korea-Russia summit, they said that Moscow simply expressed understanding for Pyeongyang's call for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea, and emphasized that Russia did not echo North Korea's stand on the matter. They also predicted that normalization of diplomatic relations between Pyeongyang and Washington would be possible only after the North Korean missile issue was settled. Meanwhile, Russia has no intention to follow a U.S.-led globalization drive, although it acknowledges the need for greater globalization. Instead, they stressed that the international community should share the fruit of a multipolar, globalized world order.

Many of the Korean participants in the forum noted that several aspects of the agreements negotiated between Russia and North Korea ran counter to traditional Seoul-Washington ties and that President Kim Dae-jung's "sunshine" engagement policy toward the North could be compromised as a result. The South Korean side thus called for Russian support for the sunshine policy. They also expressed concern that South Korea and Japan might be engulfed by a fisheries dispute stemming from the ongoing territorial dispute between Russia and Japan concerning the southern Kuril Islands.

In order to check international terrorism, the Korean side stressed the need to forge a global unity, and speculated that the September 11 terrorist attacks would have a major impact on the current U.S.-led world order. To ensure ongoing peace on the Korean peninsula, the Korean delegates noted that the United States and China would need to work together to guarantee some form of peace structure on the peninsula, to be endorsed by Russia and Japan. In conclusion, they reiterated the vital roles all six countries must play in any peace settlement for the Korean peninsula.

Economic Relations
Many of the Korean participants expressed the hope that current Korean-Russian economic relations would expand in the near future. To ensure early implementation of large business and industrial projects being by pushed by Korea and Russia, the Korean side stressed that the governments of both countries needed to a better business environment, including systematic and institutional changes and stepped-up public relations activities. Specifically, they called on Russia to reform its tax laws and regulations in order to induce more investment from Korea, and noted that Russia's Far East Siberia Subcommittee could serve as a forum to help bolster business ties between the two countries.

In addition, Korean delegates expressed keen interest in the exploration of the Sakhalin gas fields, and emphasized that, in order to link the Trans-Siberian Line to the Korean peninsula, both sides need to make thorough preparations to ensure the project's viability.

The Russian side expressed its belief that the Russian economy had finally pulled itself out of its transitional crisis after three years of successful economic management, but acknowledged that it still depends heavily on natural resources, such as crude oil, for its economic health. In this regard, the Russian participants emphasized the country's structural shift toward high-technology industries. Some on the Russian side noted that the country's small and midsize enterprises deserve more attention, and voiced concern that Russia's economic development, which is now oriented toward the promotion of large business conglomerates, might undermine the country's long-term economic future.

Reflecting the policy stands of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Duma recent gave the green light to government plans to an industrial complex in Nakhodka, which houses several Korean industrial plants. The Russian side announced that work on the project would likely commence in early 2002. They also suggested that both countries should implement various bilateral projects to support Russia's small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) in an effort to bring about tangible results in bilateral economic exchanges at an early date.

Security in East Asia and Korean-Russian Cooperation
The Korean delegates expressed concern about the possibility of a new Cold War emerging on the Korean peninsula by pointing out that inter-Korean relations have stalled largely because of Pyeongyang's changed attitude toward Seoul following the first inter-Korean summit in Pyeongyang in June 2000. The Korean side noted that North Korea has shifted its diplomatic focus toward China and Russia as its efforts to improve relations with the United States have stalled. The Korean scholars reminded their Russian counterparts that a number of critics in South Korea have expressed a possibility that evolving inter-Korean relations might adversely affect traditional Seoul-Washington ties and thus undermine South Korea's security.

With regard to South Korea's military policy toward Russia, the Korean side explained that Seoul hopes to reinforce close relations with Moscow in order to ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. They stressed that it is important for North and South Korea to build confidence in military areas and that U.S. forces stationed in South Korea are a bilateral issue involving South Korea and the United States exclusively.

The Russian participants agreed that the Korean problem is basically one that North and South Korea should resolve. While lauding President Kim's sunshine policy, they voiced regret that Pyeongyang has failed to positively respond to Seoul's policy of engagement. They observed, however, that North Korea's opening to the outside world, its adoption of market-oriented reforms, and even eventual democratization would signify the collapse of the North Korean regime. They added that is would be undesirable for North Korea to be prodded to accept a unification formula that would open the way for South Korea to absorb the North. In this context, they wanted to know whether President Kim's policy of engagement would be pursued by his successor.

The Russian delegates also stressed that South Korea needs to encourage the North in its efforts to expand relations with the international community, and noted that Russia's diplomatic emphasis on South Korea in the 1990s actually contributed to a worsening of inter-Korean relations.

Expansion of Academic and Cultural Exchanges
The Korean participants recommended that Korea and Russia needed to implement cultural exchange activities in a steady manner over the long term. In order to rid cultural exchanges of elements of commercialization, streamline the organizations that handle such exchanges, and promote efficiency and swift decision-making, the Korean side stressed the need to set up a body to exclusively deal with wide-ranging exchanges between the two countries.

The Russians noted that both countries have been successful in a variety of bilateral programs, and stressed that since Russia has certain advantages in basic technology and Korea has strengths in applied technology and capital, both countries should cooperate more closely to complement their respective strengths. They added that Russia needed to exert greater effort to take better advantage of its technology for commercial purposes, and called for widening the avenue of practical cooperation between the two countries.

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