Limited cooperation or strategic partnership? Political and economic implications of Russian-North Korean relations

• Published in: Athenaeum. Polskie Studia Politologiczne
• Main Author: Bielicki, Paweł
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Polish
• Published: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek 2019
• Subjects: scipo; demo; Protector; Russian North
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.15804/athena.2019.61.03; https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/1936068.pdf; https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/1936068

The subject of my interest is to present the most important political and economic determinants of the relations between the Russian Federation and North Korea. The main objective of this work is to describe the current state of affairs in mutual contacts and try to answer the question whether in the near future Russia will play an important role in the events currently taking place on the Korean Peninsula. At the outset, I am going to refer to the history of the relations of the two countries, dated to the communist state in Asia and the installation of the country’s leader Kim Il Sung, who in time decided to publish the doctrine of independence (Juche) and thus become independent of the Soviet protector. In addition, I refer to issues related to the collapse of the USSR and a significant limitation of mutual relations during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin. Next, I would like to describe the most important events in Russia-DPRK relations under Vladimir Putin until now, focusing on Moscow’s policy towards the Far East and the nuclear crisis and aspirations of the Pyongyang regime to be recognized by the international community as an atomic state. In addition, I will address economic issues in mutual relations, trying to answer the question whether in the near future we should expect increased economic cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang in the era of Kim Jong Un’s gradual reorientation of foreign policy to other Asian countries except China. In summary, I emphasize the future prospects and will try to determine whether the current relations of both countries resemble the form of “limited cooperation” or are in fact a strategic partnership. Przedmiotem mojego zainteresowania jest przedstawienie najważniejszych uwarunkowań polityczno-ekonomicznych relacji pomiędzy Federacją Rosyjską a Koreą Północną. Głównym celem niniejszej pracy jest opisanie obecnego stanu rzeczy we wzajemnych kontaktach oraz próba odpowiedzi na pytanie, czy w najbliższym czasie Rosja będzie odgrywała istotną rolę w wydarzeniach, ...