South Korea is moving to activate cooperation with Russia in a move prompted by its two powerful neighbors’ bids to grab energy and infrastructure development projects in the country trying to accelerate economic growth under President Vladimir Putin’s leadership.
In recent years, Seoul has not paid due attention to boosting ties with Moscow, while preoccupied with consolidating its alliance with Washington, enlisting support from Beijing in resolving the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang and confronting Tokyo over territorial and historical issues. President Park Geun-hye and her aides are now focusing on preparations for her China visit planned for late June, which is to follow her trip to the U.S. early this month.
For South Korea, however, Russia is anything but a country of which can be made little. What alarmed the country in particular are the latest moves by its two key neighbors to strengthen ties with Russia. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe traveled to Moscow in March and April, respectively, for their first talks with Putin.
A set of ambitious ideas between South Korea and Russia, including a scheme to build a gas pipeline linking the two countries, have remained on the drawing board for years. Over the period, South Korea has lagged behind its two neighbors in taking part in development projects in Siberia and the Far East region of Russia, with China and Japan making large-scale investments.
Since Seoul established formal diplomatic ties with Moscow in 1990 in a major achievement of its Nordpolitik aimed at normalizing relations with the then communist bloc, bilateral trade has increased by about 118 times from $190 million to $22.5 billion. But South Korea invested $100 million in Russia last year, which accounted for a meager 0.43 percent of its total overseas investment.
Seoul is pushing to resume talks with Moscow on a bilateral free trade agreement as soon as possible as a key part of its endeavors to expand economic partnership between the two sides. The conclusion of the FTA with Russia, which joined the World Trade Organization last year, would put South Korea on a firm footing in competing with China and Japan, which have yet to start negotiations on free trade accords.
If South Korea starts to invest more in development projects, it may draw a more favorable response from Russia, which is wary of the mounting influence and presence of China and Japan in its Far East region.
Securing political and diplomatic support from Moscow will help Seoul in resolving nuclear threats from Pyongyang. It will also give South Korea more leeway in striking a strategic balance between the U.S. and China. The summit between Park and Putin, which is expected to be held on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Saint Petersburg in September, should serve as an occasion to consolidate the momentum toward boosting the partnership between their countries.
