The Role of Russia in the Korean Peninsula Peace Regime

What role can Russia play in the preservation of peace between South and North Korea? What factors determine its choice of policy? This article examines Moscow’s strategic interests and capabilities to offer theoretically informed answers to these salient questions. It argues that Russia aims to play an important but limited role as a facilitator in the peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. This approach is preferred due to its desirability and feasibility: Moscow has important interests it wants to protect by remaining involved in the peace process, but its medium stakes in the issue and limited capabilities relative to other participants restrict its ability to perform the more demanding roles of a guarantor or mediator. Nevertheless, as its strategic interests and economic and diplomatic capabilities in the region grow, Russia has the potential to take a more central role in a multilateral peace regime in the long term. These arguments are corroborated by drawing upon primary and secondary sources in Russian, Korean, and English.