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Russia–South Korea relations (Russian: Российско-южнокорейские отношения, Korean: 한러 관계) refers to the bilateral foreign relations between Russia and South Korea.
Immediately following Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea, the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United Statescreated the division of Korea into North and South states. Thereafter, since the two sides were separated by North Korea and opposing ideologies, there was little contact until the fall of the Soviet Union.
Since the 1990s there has been greater trade and cooperation between the two nations. The total trade volume between South Korea and Russia in 2003 was 4.2 billion US dollars.
Economic cooperation
South Korea and Russia are working together on construction of a bilateral industrial complex in the Nakhodka Free Economic Area in Russia's Far East and gas-fields development in Irkutsk. The two sides also agreed to cooperate on reconnecting a planned inter-Korean railroad with the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Russia has expressed interest in becoming a conduit for South Korean exports to Europe, which now go by ship, by linking the Korean railroad to the TSR.
Russia reportedly offered to repay its $1.7 billion debt to South Korea through joint investments in North Korea, such as the railroad project.
Space program
North Korean nuclear threatSouth Korea is currently selecting its first astronaut, scheduled to board a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station in April 2008. South Korea plans the first domestic launch of a satellite in 2008, with Russian assistance. The aerospace institute is spending about 20 billion on the astronaut project, including Russian fees.
After the nuclear test on May 25, 2009 for which North Korea was facing much censure from many countries, Pyongyang has threatened to attack South Korea after it joined a U.S.-led plan to check vessels suspected of carrying equipment for weapons of mass destruction. Many news agencies in Moscow were fearing that this move may lead to nuclear war. North Korea also threatened many other countries such as U.S.A and other federations across the world. A few days later, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed in a phone call that a strong international response was needed, including U.N. action, Lee's office said. Russia said that it will work with Seoul on a new U.N. Security Council resolution and to revive international talks on the North Korean nuclear issue.
Human migration
Koryo-saram is the name which ethnic Koreans in the Post-Soviet states use to refer to themselves. Approximately 500,000 ethnic Koreans reside in the former USSR, primarily in the newly independent states of Central Asia. There are also large Korean communities in southern Russia (around Volgograd), the Caucasus, and southern Ukraine. These communities can be traced back to the Koreans who were living in the Russian Far East during the late 19th century. There is also a separate ethnic Korean community on the island of Sakhalin, typically referred to as Sakhalin Koreans. Some may identify as Koryo-saram, but many do not. Unlike the communities on the Russian mainland, which consist mostly of immigrants from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the ancestors of the Sakhalin Koreans came as immigrants from Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces in the late 1930s and early 1940s, forced into service by the Japanese government to work in coal mines in order to fill labour shortages caused by World War II.
Russians in Korea began arriving as early as 1885; however, virtually all of the current Russian community in South Korea, estimated at about 10,000 people, is composed of recent migrants.
Cultural exchange
There has been cases of cultural exchange between the two countries before the official diplomatic recognition. The introduction of Korean literature to the Russophone area was relatively active until the 1970s mainly through Korean classical stories. Contemporary South Korean literature has been introduced to Russia since the 1990s.
South Korean expatriates in Israel often benefit from ethnic Russian residences who provide Korean and non-Kosher food products.
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