Declassified files show S. Korea sought to end N.K.-Russia treaty in 1990s

▲ In this file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) poses with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their talks in Beijing, where they attended a Chinese military parade, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 4, 2025. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ This image, captured from diplomatic dossiers released by the foreign ministry on March 31, 2026, shows minutes of a meeting between then Foreign Minister Gong Ro-myung and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Panov in May 1995. (Yonhap)

dossiers-NK-Russia

Declassified files show S. Korea sought to end N.K.-Russia treaty in 1990s

SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea sought to persuade Russia to scrap its treaty with North Korea in the mid-1990s, declassified documents showed Tuesday, drawing a contrast to the countries' current relations as Moscow closely aligns with Pyongyang.

Seoul engaged in efforts to drive a wedge between the North and Russia to bring about the termination of their friendship and cooperation treaty, which was set to expire in 1996, according to diplomatic dossiers from 1995, released by the foreign ministry.

North Korea and the then Soviet Union signed the treaty in 1961 during a visit by the North's then leader Kim Il-sung to Moscow. The pact was effectively seen as a military alliance as it required the parties to provide military assistance if the other came under attack.

The 1990s marked a period when South Korea stepped up efforts to build ties with formerly Soviet-aligned socialist states, including those in Eastern Europe, in the post-Cold War landscape. Seoul and Moscow established diplomatic relations in 1990, a move that dealt a heavy blow to Pyongyang.

The dossiers revealed that Gong Ro-myung, South Korea's then foreign minister, had pressed Moscow to take steps to revise or scrap the treaty during a May 1995 meeting in Seoul with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Panov.

The persistence of Seoul's efforts was evident in Moscow's reaction, as Russia called in a South Korean diplomat stationed in Moscow in June that year to lodge a complaint over what it described as Seoul's attempt to interfere regarding the treaty.

However, Russia was also receptive at the same time, appearing to place greater emphasis on cooperating with South Korea, the documents showed.

During a bilateral policy dialogue in July 1995, the Russian side told Seoul that its relationship with North Korea had "shifted from one that had been based on shared ideology to a more pragmatic one," according to the dossiers.

They explained that it was an "open secret" that the military clause in the treaty was "no longer feasible," a remark that was interpreted as effectively acknowledging that the provision had become a dead letter.

Russia's position was also echoed by then President Boris Yeltsin during his talks with then South Korean President Kim Young-sam in Moscow in 1994.

Yeltsin told Kim that Moscow would refrain from extending the treaty, depending on the developments in inter-Korean dialogue, signaling its termination.

The documents draw a stark contrast with the current close ties between Russia and North Korea, bolstered by a new defense treaty signed in June 2024 that includes a similar mutual military intervention clause in the event either party comes under attack.

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