The turn of Russia to the East assumes the need to intensify economic cooperation with the PRC, Japan, the Republic of Korea and also the countries of Southeast Asia in the Far East of Russia.

The economic cooperation of South Korea with the regions of the Far East got start of its developing after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the Republic of Korea in 1991.

In the East of Russia, the Korean diaspora is represented by several hundred thousand people and has relations with R. Korea. Korea diaspora in Russia is active in the sphere of small and medium business. Almost in every home of the Far East there are things produced in the RK: microwave ovens, video players, tape recorders, televisions, telephones.

In the East of Russia, the Korean diaspora is represented by several hundred thousand people and has numerous contacts with R. Korea. Korean diaspora in Russia is active in the sphere of small and medium business. Almost in every home of the Far East there are things produced in the RK: microwave ovens, video players, televisions, telephones.

The Sakhalin region was most interacted with the Provinces of Republic Korea. Cooperation in the development of oil and gas fields on Sakhalin Island gave the experience of joint work ­­- platforms assembled at the shipbuilding plant in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur got the retrofitting at the factories in Korea.

In the Khabarovsk Region, the construction of high comfort houses “Rishevil” have conducted by the Korean company “Kering construction”.

In addition, Korean investors financed the construction of the Hyundai Hotel in Vladivostok, but its operation recognized as unprofitable.

Multilateral cooperation with the participation of other countries of the region was developed within the Association of Regional Administrations of Northeast Asian Countries (ARASSSA). The meetings were held at Busan, Gyeongju, and Phopan.

After the crisis in 1998, the intensity of contacts between the regions of the Far East and the provinces of South Korea began to decline.

At the beginning of the 21st century, about 90% of Korean trade in Russia was carried out by 7 South Korean corporations: Hyundai, Samsung, Daewoo, LG, Sunkyong, Kohap, Jindo. At the same time contacts of small and medium-sized South Korean business were conducted with special caution, because the Russian economy has large reserves of natural resources and cumbersome industry needed large investments, which only large companies has.

In the foreign trade turnover between the East of Russia and the Republic of Korea, the highest value was achieved in 2012 – $ 10.3 billion, but since 2013 the volume began to decline.

The previously existing ties within the framework of the Association for Cooperation of R. Korea with the Far East and Siberia, which for many years was headed by Mr. Chang – President of Kohap, were interrupted.

Cooperation between the regions of the Far East and the Republic of Korea in the framework of ARASCWA, as well as bilateral contacts between the regions, practically ceased.

The only institution that tried to maintain contacts at the interregional level was the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Vladivostok, which in spring 2012 launched an initiative to develop a program of strategic cooperation between the regions of Siberia, the Far East of Russia and the Republic of Korea, but this idea, due to lack of support from the two governments, did not get succeed.

Attempts by representatives of the Far East business in 2014 to form a subcommittee within the framework of the Business Council “Russia-South Korea”, headed by A. Abrahamyan, were not supported by the Russian side.

At the beginning of the XXI century, industrial cooperation did not develop. Among the reasons, the Korean side calls the small size of the market in the Far East, which do not provide profitability of production. In addition, at present, exports to the Far East of Korean equipment are falling, as it loses competition to suppliers from China.

The period from 2009 to 2018 can be estimated as a lost decade for the development of interregional relations. One of the reasons for the deterioration of the situation, the Korean side called the absence in 1988 – 2017 of concrete plans for the implementation of the “Northern Policy”, designed to overcome the “island situation” of the Republic of Korea.

Possible reasons for this is that during the second decade of the XXI century the former RK President Park Geun-hye recommended to the business community not to work with Russia. So, economic cooperation was blocked, interregional ties between the regions of the Russian Far East and the provinces of the Republic of Korea were interrupted, and the institutions destroyed.

27 years have passed since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Republic of Korea. In 2014, the foreign trade turnover between the Russian Federation and the RK reached a historic high of $ 25 billion.

The foreign trade turnover between the regions of the Far East and R. Korea in 2016 amounted to 5.2 billion dollars, exports – 4.8 billion dollars. Main articles: oil – 49%, gas – 14%, frozen fish – 11%. Import from the Republic of Korea fell to $ 0.6 billion.

In the total volume of foreign trade of the territories of the East of Russia in 2017, the Republic of Korea took the second place with a 25% share. Foreign trade turnover began to grow and amounted to 7.1 billion dollars. Despite the relatively high share of R. Korea among the external trading partners of the Far East, there is still a significant unused potential for further growth of mutual trade turnover.

In September 2017, in Vladivostok, President of the Republic of Korea Mun Zhe Ying, during the speech at the plenary session of the 3rd Eastern Economic Forum, announced the “New Northern Policy”, aimed at developing cooperation with the Russian Far East.

Under the new strategy, the Republic of Korea intends to build “9 bridges” of cooperation, which identify 9 priority areas: gas, railways, ports, electric networks, the Northern Sea Route, shipbuilding, working groups, agriculture, fishing. In order to coordinate the work in this direction, a “Committee for Northern Economic Cooperation” was established.

At the same time, because of the US sanctions, the Republic of Korea is not yet involved in the implementation of large-scale projects in the Far East.

The deterioration of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, related to the DPRK’s nuclear program and the deployment of THAAD complexes by the USA, hinders the development of projects on railway communications, the construction of a gas pipeline from Russia to R. Korea, the creation of an energy ring in the Northeast Asia.

Director of the KIEP Institute, Mr. Jac Yong Lee believes that if sanctions are lifted from the DPRK, Russian resources in cooperation with South Korean capital and technology, as well as North Korean labor can be involved in the production of semi-finished products and components, which then will be exported to the ROK or the third countries for the production of finished products.

In his opinion, to expand economic cooperation, R.Korea should bring efforts to form a program of cooperation with the Far East of Russia.

A.G. Bury, Chairman of the board
Union “Far Eastern Chamber of Commerce and Industry”

S.V. Greizik, expert of Research centre of SCO and APR
Khabarovsk State University of Economics and Law