Episode 33 – What is the geopolitical dimension of the Russia-North Korea relations?

Ask me about North Korea

Moscow is often seen, similar to Beijing, as one of the key allies of the North Korean regime. Yet politics and history of the Russia-North Korea relations have vacillated from strategic importance to complete indifference – and the pendulum would swing back and forth every other decade. The Korean Peninsula, which lies as the Eastern-most border with Russia, has remained in the focus of Russia's and USSR’s geopolitical attention throughout the twentieth century. Korea, on the other hand, even before its division, saw Russia as an important counterbalance to other geopolitical giants such as Japan or China. Today I will elaborate on the historic context of the Russian-North Korean relations and try to explain why their importance has dwindled with time.