Russia and North Korea Discuss Strengthening Economic Ties

So, you are the leader of one of the world’s most powerful nations but, over the last few years, have lost considerable support in the international community thanks to policies that appear to harken back to a mentality thought long-dead after the fall of Soviet Russia and the end of the cold war. What do you do to bolster your faltering economy and build a little political solidarity? Negotiate economic ties with the leader of one of the most reviled and unpredictable rogue nations on the planet, of course!

So, you are the leader of one of the world’s most powerful nations but, over the last few years, have lost considerable support in the international community thanks to policies that appear to harken back to a mentality thought long-dead after the fall of Soviet Russia and the end of the cold war. What do you do to bolster your faltering economy and build a little political solidarity? Negotiate economic ties with the leader of one of the most reviled and unpredictable rogue nations on the planet, of course!

This week Vladimir Putin, the Premiere of Russia, met with the Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-Un (or, as North Korea refers to itself, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK for short). The move left many outside political analysts shaking their head at yet another move seemingly designed by officials in Moscow to alienate the West.

According to a report by the Voice of America, Russian officials have indicated that Moscow and Pyongyang will discuss the creation of advanced development zones in Russia’s Far East and the whole of North Korea. One of these projects would call for a trilateral agreement that would include not only Russia and North Korea, but South Korea, as well. Confirmation came in an email from the Russian Minister for the Development of the Far East, Alexander Galushka to the VOA Korean News Service.

The agreement came during a visit by a North Korean economic delegation to Moscow in late February.  The latest round of top-level meetings finalized the agreement. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have indicated that they intend to strengthen economic ties moving forward, and that this is but the first of many such projects to follow.

Some analysts are skeptical that the project can get sufficient financing. Russia’s economy has been faltering in recent years and North Korea has largely been hobbled by decades of economic sanctions. The situation is all the more tenuous given that in 2014 Moscow canceled $10 billion of Pyongyang’s $11 billion debt incurred during the former Soviet Union era.

Still, reports indicate that North Korea’s economy has made some upticks in recent years. According to a report by the Economist, in 2014 North Korea’s economy grew enough that it was almost able to feed its own citizens. Whether the new ties with Moscow may take it over the top in 2015 remains, but the real question is what true benefit this arrangement will have for Moscow? The arrangement seems, to many outsiders, to be but the latest in a series of lopsided moves designed to benefit North Korea at the expense of the already struggling Russia.