Tension between Russia and South Korea

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 25 Jul 2019 by Alex Teddy
South Korea accused Russian warplanes of violating its airspace on July 24. The South Korean Air Force claimed to have fired warning shots at the Russian jets. Moscow vehemently denied any such incident took place. The Russian Air Force was certainly conducting a joint exercise with the Chinese in the area at the time. Whatever the truth is there has clearly been a sharp disagreement between the two countries. The alleged incident took place over the Dokdo Islands which are controlled by South Korea but claimed by Japan. The Japanese support South Korea's version of events.Last year President Putin boasted that Russia's relationship with China is warmer than ever. Russia borders North Korea and after China is that country's closest ally. Irritating South Korea plays well in Pyongyang. However, in terms of trade it is far more important to cosy up to South Korea which has an economy 20 times bigger than that of North Korea.Russia has demonstrated that it is a player in the Far East and has reach. If Moscow chose to irk South Korea it was presumably with Chinese approval. Notably Beijing has not commented on the alleged incident despite Chinese planes being very close. China is a restraining factor on North Korea. China also trades a lot with South Korea but has a somewhat adversarial relationship with that country.

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