Russia’s Nuclear Strategy in Northeast Asia

... region (Japan, South Korea) have already developed their own nuclear power. Secondly, the majority of countries in the region are oriented towards the United States in particular, and western business in general, with regards to nuclear energy. Thirdly, Russian products earned poor reputation after the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, as a result of which Soviet products were supplanted by ‘more reliable’ French and Dutch products. North Korea was the USSR’s major regional partner in the nuclear power industry. Back in 1955, the two countries signed an agreement to cooperate in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Soviet specialists helped build key nuclear infrastructure facilities in North Korea, including the Radiochemistry Research ...