The «Rason» zone is a trigger for russian-north korean cooperation

The article examines the prospects for Russia's involvement in economic activities in the North Korean “Rason Trade and Economic Zone”, which are particularly relevant in the context of the sharp rise in Russian-North Korean cooperation after the signing of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between the Russian Federation and the DPRK on June 19, 2024. In 1993, the DPRK Government decided to create a kind of open trade and financial center similar to Hong Kong or Singapore at the junction of the borders with China and Russia in the areas of the port of Rajin and the city of Sonbong. The implementation of the project was hampered by the collapse of the USSR, the economic crisis that broke out in the DPRK, and the stifling sanctions imposed by the international community against Pyongyang's nuclear missile program. The radical change in the geopolitical situation and the rapid rapprochement between the Russian Federation and the DPRK create the preconditions for turning the “Rason Trade and Economic Zone” into an important hub of Russian-North Korean cooperation. The Russian-North Korean joint venture “RasonConTrans”, which has become the largest investment in the DPRK economy in all the years since joint ventures were allowed in the country, could play a significant role in reviving this project. At the same time, it is assumed that a new regional subsystem of the international division of labor and value chains will be formed in the Tuman River delta. The project could be implemented both within the framework of the special “Rason trade and economic zone” and within the framework of the actively discussed project to create a duty-free and visa-free zone with preferential taxation in the southern part of Primorsky Krai on the territory bordering the DPRK and the PRC. The start of construction in 2025 of a roadbridge across the Tuman River, designed to connect Russian Primorsky Krai with the North Korean “Rason trade and economic zone”, could become a generator of practical content for the economic component of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between the Russian Federation and the DPRK. The creation of the cluster for Russian-North Korean cooperation in Rason may also have an international conseguence. On the basis of this “deal”, the initiative may resurrect to create an international hub in the Tuman River Delta with long-term geopolitical conseguences, with Russia leading the way.