FACTBOX - Russia-North Korea Relations

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met on Thursday for the first time in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.

On October 12, 1948, the Soviet Union was the first state to establish diplomatic relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

North Korea officially recognized Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union.

On February 9, 2000, Moscow and Pyongyang signed the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighborly Relations. It replaced the outdated document of 1961, according to which the Soviet Union and the DPRK were military allies.

In July 2000, Putin paid the first official visit to North Korea. The leaders of the two countries exchanged views on issues of bilateral relations and international problems of mutual interest, and signed the Pyongyang Declaration.

In July-August 2001, the head of the DPRK Kim Jong Il paid the first official visit to Russia at Putin's invitation. The trip lasted 24 days. Kim Jong Il spent most of his visit on the train.

On August 8, Putin held a brief meeting with Kim Jong Il in Moscow, which resulted in the signing of the Moscow Declaration. Along with the Pyongyang Declaration, it constitutes the legal basis of Russian-North Korean relations.

In August 2002, Chairman of the National Defense Committee (NDC) of North Korea Kim Jong Il traveled through the Russian Far East. On August 23, Putin held talks with him in Vladivostok.

In August 2011, Kim Jong Il came to Russia again and visited several regions of the Far East and Siberia.

On August 24, then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held talks with Kim Jong Il in Russian Eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude. They discussed a wide range of issues in bilateral relations, as well as regional issues, and the situation around the settlement of the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula.

The agenda also included the implementation of three-party (Russia, South Korea and North Korea) economic cooperation projects: connecting the Trans-Korean and Trans-Siberian railways, constructing a power line and laying a gas pipeline from Russia to South Korea through North Korea.

The enhancing development of nuclear missile program by Pyongyang in 2016-2017 has complicated the development of Russian-North Korean relations. North Korea was informed that that it was impossible to develop interaction in isolation from the situation on the Korean Peninsula and Pyongyang's nuclear-missile experiments. At the same time, the two countries continued to find ways of reducing tensions in the region and of resuming the six-party talks to resolve the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula.

On June 14, 2018, Putin received the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, Kim Yong Nam, in the Kremlin. During the meeting, Kim Yong Nam handed Putin a letter from Kim Jong Un.

Both countries' foreign ministries maintain close contact.

In August 2017, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum Ministerial Meeting in the Philippine capital of Manila.

In April 2018, Ri Yong Ho came to Moscow on an official visit.

In May 2018, Lavrov paid an official visit to Pyongyang, during which he met with Kim Jong Un.

On September 26, 2018, Lavrov held talks with Ri Yong Ho in New York on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.

Interparliamentary contacts play an important role in the development of Russian-North Korean relations. In April and November 2017, a delegation of Russian lower house lawmakers from all factions of the State Duma, led by Kazbek Taisayev, visited Pyongyang.

In October 2017, Deputy Speaker of the North Korean parliament Ahn Dong Chun visited Russia and held talks with Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko.

In September 2018, the Russian parliamentary delegation led by Matvienko took part in celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK. During the visit to Pyongyang, the head of the Russian delegation was received by Kim Jong Un. Matvienko delivered a personal message from Russian president to the North Korean leader.

Russia is North Korea's traditional trade and economic partner. International sanctions, as well as the illegitimate unilateral restrictions imposed by some countries, have seriously complicated the further development of bilateral economic ties.

In 2017, the Russian-North Korean trade amounted to $77.9 million. At the end of 2018, Russia's trade with North Korea totaled $34 million, showing a decrease of 56.2 percent, compared to 2017. Russia's exports to North Korea amounted to $32 million, while imports reached $1.9 million.

Russia's Primary exports to North Korea include mineral products, food products and agricultural raw materials, while the imports are mainly represented by musical instruments, machinery, equipment and vehicles, as well as chemicals.

An important bilateral project is the joint operation of the Hasan (Russia) - Rajin (North Korea) section of the railway reconstructed by RasonConTrans (a subsidiary of Russian Railways) and the third pier of Rajin Port. Russian Railways continues its efforts to attract Russian and foreign transport and logistics companies to the project to form a cargo base.

One of the mutually beneficial areas of bilateral economic cooperation is the use of the North Korean manpower in order to overcome the shortage of labor in some Russian regions, mostly in Siberia and the Far East.

Russian-North Korean Intergovernmental Commission for Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation continues to work. Its ninth meeting was held in March 2019.

Russia regularly provides humanitarian assistance to North Korea both on bilateral basis and through international organizations.

Russia and North Korea are developing cooperation in the field of culture and education. The Russian Centre set up by the Russkiy Mir foundation at the Pyongyang Institute of Foreign Languages has been successfully operating since 2009. Nationwide Russian language contests have been held annually among North Korean schoolchildren since 2015.

Under the Russia Study program, � Russia provides places for foreigners to study for free in its universities� 40 students from North Korea were accepted for the 2016-2017 academic year. The same quota was set for the 2018-2019 academic year.