Trilateral cooperation between the Russian Federation, Republic of Korea and the DPRK in the prism of politics and economics. The view from the Republic of Korea

Abstract

It is commonly suggested that trilateral cooperation between the Russian Federation, the Republic of Korea, and the DPRK in areas such as railway lines, electricity, intermodal logistics, etc., has immense economic benefits. Experts also remark the geopolitical value this cooperation has for the endowment of peace and stabilization on the Korean peninsula. However, as it is said: “great cry and little wool”, in reality, cooperation is still at the negotiation stage. Nonetheless, the interests and expectations of the parties concerning a number of projects remain high. Even though there are countless obstacles that must be overcome, the initiative of trilateral collaboration does not lose its significance. This is due to the fact that geopolitical and geo-economic pressure, which contributes to the success of the business, is stronger and more persistent than the dismissal of this project. The objective of this research is to examine the trilateral cooperation project from South Korea’s point of view in the prism of politics and economics. Particularly, the development and expansion of trilateral cooperation, the expected geo-economic and geopolitical benefits of this multilateral cooperation, and the boundaries and possibilities of the project are discussed in a condensed manner. Based on the aforementioned, the article suggests several political measures crucial for the implementation of the trilateral cooperation project.