Abstract
This article analyses the problems of comprehensive bilateral security relations between Russia and South Korea. The paper examines how the focus of the regional security cooperation building process between Russia and South Korea has evolved since the establishment of diplomatic relations. This paper contends that the two countries have put equal emphasis on both traditional and non-traditional security cooperation. However, the focus has gradually changed from the traditional to a non-traditional dimension. This study also maintains that in order to establish a favourable regional security environment, bilateral and multilateral cooperation among nation states is essential because regional economic security cooperation provides an opportunity to generate trust and confidence between nation states. Nonetheless, bilateral relations between Moscow and Seoul have developed quite slowly because both have underestimated the importance of regional economic security. As a result, the two countries have failed to cultivate full trust in each other. And neither side has had the motivation to deal with existing domestic obstacles such as the inherent economic difficulties of the Russian Far East, and the reluctance of the South Korean government and private sector to invest in the long term. Furthermore, bilateral security cooperation between the two countries has been hampered by external factors such as the North Korean nuclear issue and the dominating role the US or China has been playing in the Northeast Asian region.
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