South Korean industrial companies in Russia: Problems and prospects

Aim . The work aimed to analyze the development of Russian-South Korean trade and economic relations in recent years with an emphasis on South Korean companies that have or had industrial enterprises in Russia. The authors pay special attention to the prospects of their presence in the Russian market. Objectives. The work seeks to analyze the history of Russian-South Korean economic relations, features of industrial offshoring of South Korean companies, and an overview of recent changes in the Russian market. Methods. The study employed statistical analysis of data on international trade between the countries, generalization and graphical modeling of materials from information resources of the companies considered in the work, as well as other general scientific research methods. Results . The study revealed that the negative trend in Russian-South Korean relations is replaced by multidirectional trends. On the one hand, the decline in commodity turnover between the countries in most provisions continues, while on the other hand, many South Korean companies have resumed operations or expressed intentions to return to the Russian market. Conclusions . Despite the change of power in the Republic of Korea, obvious changes in international trade, and the emerging hopes for changes in sanctions regime in Russia, qualitative improvements in Russian-South Korean trade and economic cooperation should not be reckoned on, as, the new political atmosphere will be neutral at best.