Russia returns to Korean conflict

Soviet troops in Korea, October 1945Photo byWikipedia

August 15, 1945, is recognized as the date that Korea, at the time a Japanese territory, was liberated from Japan and placed under an international trusteeship until it was deemed that the new country could conduct self-rule. Much like Germany and the city of Berlin at the end of World War II, the country was divided into two occupation zones, one led by the United States and the other by the Soviet Union. The 38th Parallel separated the two zones and became the border between North and South Korea.

Immediately the Soviet 25th Army took up residence in North Korea, holding its headquarters at Pyongyang, the country's current capital. Instrumental in developing the North Korean People's Army and Korean People's Air Force, the Soviets reported a full withdrawal from North Korea on December 27, 1948. It is estimated that the Soviet Union left approximately 2,000 military advisors and 1,000 security personnel in the country as Joseph Stalin was wary of the continued involvement of the United States in the South.

Despite a limited military presence, the Soviet Union retained control of North Korea under the treaty that ended World War II.

Pressured by Chinese leader Mao Zedong, Stalin in 1950 agreed to allow North Korea to invade the South to reunify the country under one rule. The benefit to the Soviet Union would be a slowing or disruption of the spread of American influence in Asia.

Korean Demilitarized ZonePhoto byEncyclopedia Brittanica

After the war was paused by the Armistace on July 27, 1953, both zones came under self-rule. North Korea was under the leadership of Kim Il Sung while the South was presided over by Syngman Rhee, the first president of South Korea. No longer under Soviet or American control, the two new countries and their governments acted independently.

In 1961, with the United States continuing to attempt to spread influence throughout Asia, North Korea and the Soviet Union signed an agreement that if one were attacked, the other would "immediately provide military and other assistance to the best of its ability." This meant that if the South, supported by the United States, were to attempt to invade North Korea to unify the country, then the Soviet Union would respond by providing military and other support to North Korea.

With the fall of the Soviet Union 30 years later in 1991, the agreement was rendered void. As no major incursion by either side of the Korean Conflict had occurred during that 30 years, or in the 33 years since that agreement was voided, it was not renewed but was left as an unwritten understanding.

Heightened tensions in Asia as a whole have led to a reconsideration of the agreement. North and South Korea have been rattling their sabers, with North Korea performing periodic rocket and missile launches in the direction of Japan, sending trash-filled balloons across the border into South Korea, claiming waters recognized internationally as belonging to South Korea to be their own, and by building a wall along the demilitarized zone with troops occasionally crossing into South Korea. South Korea has responded to these with warnings about continuing the activities and has recently reinstated a practice of using loudspeakers to blast propaganda messages into the North.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has seen the situation in Asia as a way to help his effort in Ukraine, which he invaded on February 24, 2022. For over two years, Putin has seen his war there turn into a stalemate largely due to the supply of weapons and other materials to Ukraine by Western nations, primarily the United States. Reports indicate that South Korea enabled at least some of this supply from the United States by sending 155mm shells to the United States as replacements for those sent to Ukraine.

Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un signed a mutual defense treaty on June 19. Using similar language to that of the 1961 agreement, the new defense treaty provides that the countries will support each other through personnel and weapons delivery should either be attacked. this agreement goes further than the 1961 agreement as it also provides that Russia will supply North Korea with weapons if South Korea sends weapons to Ukraine.

Russian Corvette Sovershennyy (333) in PacificPhoto byMilitary and Commercial Technology

In conjunction with President Putin's Asia trip which included a stop in Hanoi, Vietnam, after the meeting in Pyongyang, Russian corvettes belonging to the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet are conducting drills in the Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan (Yellow Sea), and Sea of Okhotsk. As these drills are scheduled to last until June 28, they provide concern that Russia will be returning troops to North Korea.