Summary
Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula are regions where the interests of G4, which are the United States, Japan, China and Russia, are interconnected. The interconnection of these countries’ interests can affect the stability and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and South Korea’s policy toward North Korea. Therefore, Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) has been actively developing policy exchanges with major countries such as the United States, Japan, Russia, and Germany since its establishment in 1991. In the case of Russia, The Center for North Korean Studies at KINU has been building policy networks with Russia’s major institutes such as Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Institute for Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), and Moscow MGIMO University of the MOFA of the Russian Federation, making efforts in exchanging experts. This is because Russia plays a critical role for the peace and prosperity of the Korean peninsula in the process of working towards, and after, unification. Russia also needs Korea as an important “strategic cooperation partner.” This study aims to strengthen trust between Korea and Russia through promoting mutual understanding and improving the quality of policy network. The study is the outcome of the joint research of KINU and IMEMO. As the editor of this volume, I hope this study may help experts, students and readers in Korea and in the countries surrounding the Korean Peninsula to have a clearer understanding of Russia’s national strategy, Northeast strategy, Far East and Siberia strategy, and the importance of the “strategic cooperation partnership” between Korea and Russia. I think this research, along with the participation of representative experts of Korea and Russia, will be useful in grasping Russia’s foreign perspective and strategy and to understand its foreign policy that it pursues.
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