Military-technical cooperation between Russia and the Republic of Korea in 1994-2005

Importance. The purpose of the study is to consider significant aspects of military and technical cooperation between Russia and the Republic of Korea, carried out within the framework of the Brown Bear project in 1994–2005. It is of interest to analyse the specifics of cooperation in this segment between the countries that were ideological opponents until the early 1990s.
Materials and Methods. The research of Russian and South Korean scientists that examines the factors influencing the dynamics of military and technical ties between Moscow and Seoul is involved. Along with general scientific methods such as systematic historical analysis, historical retrospective method, axiological method, and SWOT-analysis are used (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
Results and Discussion. This research reveals that Moscow’s calculations for the promotion of Russian weapons to South Korea, as well as Seoul’s interest in obtaining modern Russian military technologies, formed positive expectations. At the same time, a set of factors has been identified that did not allow creating significant groundwork for the future following the results of the two stages of the “Brown Bear” project.
Conclusion. Military and technical cooperation with Seoul became for Moscow an important experience of such activities in the Asian direction, the uniqueness of which was conditioned, among other things, by South Korea’s status as a strategic ally of the United States

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