Asia Times: Rediscovered North Korean ties raise doubts in Moscow


	August 7, 2001	atimes.com

Central Asia/Russia

Rediscovered North Korean ties raise doubts in Moscow
By Sergei Blagov

MOSCOW - Russia pledged to restore full-scale cooperation with North Korea during it's leader vist, but the relevance of upgrading its ties with Pyongyang remain a matter of debate here.

On August 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il signed a joint "Moscow Declaration" in the Kremlin. Notably, North Korea insisted that its missile program is of a "peaceful nature and does not pose a threat to any country that respects North Korea's sovereignty". The two leaders reaffirmed their support for the 1972 Anti- Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty as a "cornerstone of strategic stability", hence opposing US plans for a missile defense shield. They also pledged to promote "the formation of a new fair world order", effectively dismissing US claims of a perceived "rogue-nation" threat.

Kim called the "Moscow Declaration" a "great success". The North Korean official KCNA news agency commented that "the prospect for boosting the bilateral friendly and cooperative relations is very bright".

However, not all Russians were as impressed. On Sunday, Moscow police briefly detained eight local members of the Transnational Radical Party, who tried to stage an unauthorized protest near Pyongyang's embassy in Moscow to "demand democracy for North Korea". Russians also complained of the security measures that tied up railway traffic, with the official RIA news agency saying more than 500,000 Russians have been and will be inconvenienced by Kim's trip.

More importantly, some Russian media outlets argued that Moscow would have no foreign-policy gains from being a friend of Pyongyang. The opposition daily Nezavisiymaya Gazeta argued that Kim tried to use Moscow as a "go-between" to resume contacts between Washington and Pyongyang.

Russia remains one of the few countries with extensive representation in Pyongyang and the Kremlin has said it intends to play a role on the divided peninsula. However, it remains to be seen whether Moscow can manage to profit from its re-discovered friendship with Pyongyang, which over the last year or so has emerged from diplomatic isolation.

Still, Kim's visit tried to stress old links between Russia and Stalinist country. When Kim paid homage to the Lenin mausoleum on Red Square on Saturday, under unprecedented security, he became the first visiting foreign leader since the collapse of the Soviet Union to do so.

To arrive in Moscow, Kim undertook a July 26-August 3 trip in a 21-car, Japanese-built armored express train along the famed Trans- Siberian Railroad. After such a trip, "now you know Russia better than some Russian politicians", Putin told Kim during the welcoming ceremony in the Kremlin on August 4. Kim, who leaves for North Korea on Tuesday, said he had learned a lot "about the nature and feelings of the Russian people".

Russia has played a role in North Korea's emergence in the international arena, marked by Kim's historic summit with his South Korean counterpart in June 2000. Last year, it was with Putin in Pyongyang that Kim discussed his country's missile development program and announced a moratorium on missile development until 2003. Putin, the first Kremlin leader ever to visit North Korea in that trip in July 2000, in turn conveyed that message to foreign governments.

Earlier, in 1998, North Korea stunned the world by test-firing a ballistic missile over Japan, triggering concern about its development of weapons of mass destruction.

The Soviet Union was a close ally of Pyongyang during the 1950- 53 war between the communist North and the UN-backed South. But relations have been less cordial since the 1991 collapse of Soviet rule. Russia, Pyongyang's neighbor thanks to a narrow land border near Vladivostok, has sharply downgraded its ties with North Korea. There has been a corresponding increase in Russian trade links with South Korea, which remains technically at war with North Korea.

However, the joint "Moscow Declaration" said that Russia and North Korea agreed to develop military cooperation. After all, nearly all weapons used by North Korean military are obsolete Soviet-made models or domestically manufactured arms produced under Soviet licenses. For instance, the North Korean armed forces have 50 missiles, 2,300 tanks, 73 naval vessels and submarines. All these pieces of military hardware are obsolete.

Economic ties however are lagging behind. Last year, Moscow and Pyongyang signed a new treaty to replace an outmoded Soviet-era accord in place since 1961. But between 1992 and 2000, bilateral trade dropped from US$600 million to $105 million a year. Moreover, some 90 percent of North Korean exports to Russia consists of a cheap labor force. North Korean workers are typically engaged in forestry projects.

The joint declaration said the two nations agreed to develop economic cooperation. Russia promised to help in rebuilding North Korean enterprises launched during the Soviet-era, including the power sector, a statement said. It also specified that Moscow's aid was conditional on regular payments on Pyongyang's Soviet-era debt.

RIA news agency quoted anonymous diplomatic sources as saying that Russia was not going to send arms shipments to North Korea "for free" or forgive Pyongyang Soviet-era debt to Moscow. The debt is estimated between $1.7 billion and $5.5 billion, the discrepancy owing to disagreements over exchange rates of the Soviet-era currencies.

The declaration also covered an ambitious rail project, one that would open up the 9,000-kilometer Trans-Siberian Railway to South Korean exports, halving the time it currently takes Seoul to get goods to European markets by sea. Russia is also working on plans for a gas pipeline to South Korea, which could provide the North with energy and transportation fees.

(Inter Press Service)

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