This article examines the impact of the Ukraine war on Russian–North Korean relations at three different levels. At the international level, the war will bring two power groups into confrontation. The closer security cooperation between Russia and China will form an illiberal group that will set the security environment for North Korea to establish a new international identity. At the regional level, Russian–Chinese security alignment will be reinforced, which North Korea will exploit. At the bilateral level, Russian–North Korean relations will be strengthened as Russia’s influence in Northeast Asia wanes.

중국의 5세대 지도부로의 교체에도 불구하고 중앙아시아가 지닌 전략적 이익으로 인해 중국이 중앙아시아 지역과 협력 관계를 강화하려는 전반적인 대외정책 상의 기조는 변하지 않을 것으로 보인다. 오히려 상하이협력기구(SCO) 등의 다자협력 기제를 적극적으로 활용하고 “소프트 파워”를 통한 ‘주변외교’를 강화하려는 추세를 보이고 있다. 이러한 상황에서 카자흐스탄은 중국 서부의 접경국으로서 에너지와 수송·물류 부문에서 중국의 주요한 협력 파트너로 꼽히고 있다. 물론 이르티슈 강의 수자원을 둘러싼 잠재적인 분쟁과 신장-위구르 자치구의 성장에 따른 양국 간의 경쟁 가능성이 경제협력에 어떠한 영향을 미칠 수 있을 것인지가 상당히 논쟁적이다. 그럼에도 불구하고 내정 간섭을 배제하는 중국의 방침과 상호공유할 수 있는 경제적 이익의 존재는 향후 카자흐스탄-중국 간의 협력 관계가 심화될 것을 예상하게 한다.

The purpose of this short paper is to introduce a new concept and way of thinking about the future of Northeast Asia in conjunction with the development of Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia. The basic arguments of this paper are: first, the specialists should shed the conventional definition of geographical boundaries, especially in defining Northeast Asia; second, Russia’s Far Eastern development can make a significant contribution to the regional community building depending on how creatively and imaginatively the development proceeds; lastly, it is high time to start preparation for the future of Northeast Asia before it gets too late. In this regard, at the end of this paper the authors introduce their initial effort to establish a consortium, the purpose of which is to lay groundwork for the establishment of an institute for Northeast Asian community building

One of the key challenges of our time is the threat posed to the security of Northeast Asia by North Korea's nuclear proliferation. Efforts to resolve this problem through the medium of a six-party negotiation are proceeding with great difficulty. As in any multilateral process, a major problem is understanding the goals and perspectives of each of the participants. One of those participants is Russia, and this monograph focuses upon Moscow's perspectives with regard to North Korea's nuclear program and Russia's own standing in Northeast Asia. This monograph makes a valuable contribution to the debate or analysis of the difficult issues connected with North Korea's nuclear proliferation because the views of Russia, and of the other participants in those negotiations, unfortunately are not well-known or readily available in the United States. This monograph by two South Korean experts on Russia was presented at a colloquium jointly sponsored by the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) of the U.S. Army War College; the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies at the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington; and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Pacific Northwest Center for Global Studies. Entitled "The U.S. and Russia: Regional Security Issues and Interests," the conference was held in Washington, DC, from April 24-26, 2006. It represents part of SSI's efforts to provide strategic leaders with analysis and background on major trends in international security.