Policing Northeast Asia - The Politics of Security in Russia and Korea

This book explores the progress in and the obstacles surrounding developing comprehensive security cooperation between Russia and South Korea since diplomatic relations were established in 1991 within the framework of economic security. The book focuses on oil and natural gas projects, linking the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Korean Railroads, industrial development in the Nakhodka Free Economic Zone, fishery cooperation, and the arms trade, and examines whether these five aspects of cooperation serve to contribute to building Russian-South Korean bilateral and regional economic security.   

The author argues that these five aspects of cooperation all have the potential to enhance comprehensive bilateral security and further regional economic security in Northeast Asia. However, Russian-South Korean economic cooperation has been hampered by a number of obstacles, including domestic factors as well as external factors, and prevented Russia and South Korea from fulfilling their potential for creating a cooperative comprehensive security relationship. The author concludes with an assessment on the utility of the concept of multi-dimensional security cooperation as a framework for studying and improving the prospects for Russian-South Korean bilateral relations.

Se Hyun Ahn is Professor of the Department of International Relations and the Director of the Center for Energy Security Strategic Studies at the University of Seoul, Korea. He is currently the Senior Advisor to the National Bureau of Asian Research and International Advisor to the China Institute of International Studies. He was formerly Vice President for International Affairs at the University of Seoul. He holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, UK, an M.A. from Georgetown University, USA and B.A from Cornell College, USA.