THE PEACE PROCESS ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

The article considers a wide range of issues related to the tasks of providing permanent and durable peace on the Korean Peninsula. The problem of concluding a Peace Treaty instead of the Armistice Agreement is a cornerstone in building a new non-confrontational framework capable to provide the security of all parties involved as well as in establishing the conditions for equal cooperation between them. The authors argue that the realization of those tasks was possible due to positive developments in the American-North Korean and inter-Korean relations. In accordance with the Panmunjom Declaration signed by the leaders of the DPRK and the ROK, the two sides agreed to cooperate in bringing an end to the state of armistice and establishing a firm peace regime through multilateral meetings involving both sides as well as the United States and China. Another important step was the Comprehensive Military Agreement signed between two Koreas, which envisaged promoting arms control and introducing confidence-building measures. However, despite a certain warming of the climate on the Korean Peninsula, the transition from political declarations to practical steps for benefit of a comprehensive peaceful resolution has proven to be very difficult because of existing deep contradictions between the parties involved. The authors' view is that as of now, the parties concerned have failed to launch any ad hoc multilateral arrangement aimed at outlining the contours of the future peace-building order on the Korean Peninsula. The reason is that the failure to settle the long-standing nuclear issue has obstructed progress on all the tracks, including the peace process there. In this vein, special attention is devoted to Russia's approach and perspective. The authors illuminate that participation in the process of peaceful settlement of the key issues on the Korean agenda meets the vital interests of Russia in the context of tasks related to the establishment of the security and cooperation arrangement in the region of North East Asia.