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President Vladimir Putin of Russia attends a ceremony honoring heroes of labor at the Kremlin in Moscow on June 12, 2024. (EPA/Yonhap)

Russian President Vladimir Putin could pay his first visit to North Korea in 24 years as early as next week. North Korea’s strategic alignment with Russia, a nuclear weapon state, energy giant and permanent member of the UN Security Council, is a disastrous development that could severely harm South Korea’s national interest. The government needs to make use of balanced diplomacy to prevent the two countries from proceeding with full-fledged military cooperation.

A senior official from South Korea’s presidential office told reporters on Wednesday that Putin’s visit to North Korea is just “a few days away.”

Japanese broadcaster NHK reported Thursday that arrangements are being made for Putin to visit North Korea “as early as next week” and that large equipment that is presumably intended for a military parade has been spotted in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. These are indications that Putin’s trip to North Korea and Vietnam, which was mentioned by Russian media on Monday, is about to begin.

South Korea maintained cordial relations with Russia for more than 30 years after they normalized relations in September 1990. But their relationship has been deteriorating since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2022. The relationship entered a perilous phase when President Yoon Suk-yeol indirectly provided Ukraine with 155 mm shells, via the US, in the spring and summer of 2023.

That was when Russia began cozying up to North Korea. Last September, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with Putin during a visit to the Russian Far East. North Korea appears to have received Russian assistance with a satellite delivery system in exchange for selling armaments to Russia.

Russia has been vetoing resolutions against North Korea at the UN Security Council since 2022; in March, it vetoed a motion that would have extended the mandate of an expert panel under the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea. North Korea and Russia’s strengthening ties have seriously undermined the security environment in South Korea and also torpedoed the UN Security Council’s cooperation on the North Korean nuclear issue.

Some South Korean conservatives support the idea of blatantly providing armaments to Ukraine, but that’s a reckless idea that could push Seoul-Moscow relations to the point of no return. The US has poured US$51.9 billion worth of military aid into Ukraine from the beginning of the war through June 7, along with contributions from major European countries, but that hasn’t changed the course of the war.

Russia’s chummy relationship with North Korea is linked to its chilly relationship with South Korea. Given its isolation from Europe, Russia would like to improve relations with South Korea, but as Putin remarked on June 5, that’s up to South Korea, not Russia.

South Korea needs to find a prudent way to manage relations with Russia while also showing consideration to its American ally. Most importantly, we must never provide weapons to Ukraine.

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