Suchergebnisse

The UN Security Council imposed tough economic sanctions against the DPRK in response to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests in 2016-2017. They placed considerable strain on economic relations with North Korea. Prior to the introduction of the new international restrictions, economic relations between the Russian Federation and the DPRK had been mainly represented by trade, the Hasan-Rajin joint transport and logistics project, temporary labor migration of North Korean citizens to work in Russia, and humanitarian assistance from the Russian Federation. New investment cooperation projects had also been discussed (for example, in infrastructure and energy spheres), as well as the construction of an motor-way bridge between the two countries. The article evaluates the consequences of the UN Security Council sanctions against the DPRK for the main areas of Russian-North Korean economic relations. Moscow managed to exclude the Khasan-Rajin railway project from the UN Security Council resolutions as the Russian side had invested more than $ 250 million in it. Since 2018 the joint venture, however, has faced serious problems in ensuring the necessary volume of freight to handle. Due to the UNSC sanctions, mutually beneficial cooperation in attracting workers from the DPRK to Russia had to be terminated by the end of 2019. At the same time, bilateral trade, which cut in half in 2018, showed a yoy growth of more than 40 % in 2019, primarily due to an increase in Russian exports. The supply of the Russian humanitarian aid also continued.

The article examines main directions of the Russian-North Korean cooperation in the context of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020–2021. The summit of the Russian and North Korean leaders in 2019 created expectations for expanded bilateral cooperation in the areas not prohibited by the UN Security Council resolutions. Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, however, the DPRK has severely limited contacts with the outside world since January 2020. Transport links with other countries were suspended, foreigners were prohibited from entering the country, and export and import operations were broken off. By April 2021 most of the foreign diplomats and all foreign employees of international humanitarian organizations had left the DPRK. Nevertheless, Russia retained its presence in North Korea and continued to provide humanitarian assistance to that country. Petroleum products supplies from Russia continued until August 2020. Bilateral trade in 2020 decreased by 11% compared to 2019. The mutual exchange of delegations in 2020 was frozen, however, regular contacts of diplomats with the local authorities continued both in Pyongyang and in Moscow. A new educational project was launched in 2021. During online sessions researches from leading Russian universities deliver lectures to teachers and researchers from the North Korean institutes. Thus, the two countries are trying to maintain contacts and develop cooperation even in the current tough conditions.