Recent Development in the Russian Far East-Baikal Region and its Implication

Soon after the start of the third term of the Russian president Vladimir Putin in May 2012, the Ministry for the Development of Russian Far East was established as the first ever federal ministry dedicated to the development of a specific region. In addition, a national program called the 'Socio-Economic Development of the Far East and Baikal Region' was adopted in March 2013 which was revised in April 2014. All of this is an indication of Russia's unprecedented interest in developing the Far East and the Baikal region. Adjacent to the Korean peninsula, Russian Far East and the Baikal region stood up as a priority target for Korean cooperation activities in Eurasia. These regions constitute a geographical link in trilateral Northern cooperation (South Korea-North Korea-Russia) and Eurasian cooperation under the Korean government's national agenda, 'The Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative'. And experts in Korea have already pointed out that the Russian government's development plan for the Far East and the Baikal region is a key factor that must be considered in securing future growth engines of the Korean economy. In a similar context, on October 18, 2013, President Park Geunhye proposed the 'Eurasia Initiative' with the vision of transforming the region into 'One Continent', a 'Creative Continent', and a 'Peaceful Continent' at the international conference on 'Global Cooperation in the Era of Eurasia' hosted by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP). This was followed by an announcement from the Korean government of the 'Eurasia Initiative Roadmap' on December 10, 2014. This paper systematically analyzes the third-term Putin administration's development policy for the Far East and the Baikal region, and presents detailed policy responses while taking into account its geopolitical and geoeconomic significance for the region.