European diplomats uneasy over South Korea’s recent diplomatic moves ... Suspicions of a tilt toward Russia

[Financial News] A climate of suspicion toward South Korea over its recent relations with Russia has emerged among European diplomats based in South Korea. They are considering whether they can continue to trust South Korea if it grows closer to Russia.
The UK’s Financial Times (FT), in a report from Seoul on the 28th, cited officials as saying this. FT reported that European countries’ concerns about South Korea-Russia relations are growing, and that developments such as South Korea’s pilot voyage on the Arctic sea route and recent reports that at least 176,000 tonnes of petroleum products were transported from South Korea to Russia in July and August had heightened European diplomats’ concerns. Officials said some European diplomats were watching to see whether they could continue to trust South Korea as a like-minded country with shared economic and security interests.
An anonymous European diplomat based in Seoul told the FT, “(South Korea) is not, in fact, a like-minded country that ‘shares the same views’ (with Europe),” adding, “Their attitude is that the (Ukraine) war will not last forever, and that they want to resume trade with Russia immediately as soon as the war ends.”
FT noted that the pilot voyage on the Arctic sea route required extensive cooperation from Russia. According to the outlet, European diplomats view the episode as showing that South Korea has tilted toward Russia in diplomatic and commercial affairs.
FT analyzed that Europe had been concerned about South Korea’s stance toward Russia even before the Lee Jae-myung administration, and that related dissatisfaction intensified after the administration took office. Mason Richey, a professor of international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, told the FT in an interview that South Korea-Russia relations had “quietly improved” since last fall. In this context, the outlet also cited a closed-door meeting held last November between an organization affiliated with the National Intelligence Service and a Russian think tank, as well as President Lee Jae-myung’s recent appointment of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Song Young-gil, a former special envoy to Russia, as a special adviser on peace diplomacy.
In a statement sent to the FT, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry rebutted the claims, saying, “Some concerns that South Korea is leaning too far toward Russia are not based on fact,” and, “As a responsible member of the international community, the South Korean government supports and is joining international efforts to end the Ukraine war and restore peace.”
 
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