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North Korea FOREIGN MILITARY RELATIONS
Relations with China and the Soviet Union
P'yongyang's relations with Beijing and Moscow have changed
significantly over time as the result of the changing domestic
environment, emerging disparities in the strategic interests of
the three countries, and key events such as the Sino-Soviet
split, the collapse of communism, and the replacement of the
Soviet Union with Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS)
(see China and the Soviet Union
, ch. 4). Data on
Chinese and Soviet arms transfers to North Korea are scarce and
unreliable.
General trends in post-Korean War assistance can be grouped
into six phases. During the first period (1953-56), the Soviet
Union supplied assistance unilaterally, and China maintained
troops in North Korea. In the second period (1957-60), Soviet deStalinization measures led to tension in Soviet-North Korean
relations
(see Foreign Policy
, ch. 4). As China pulled its troops
out of Korea, however, it increased military assistance. During
the third phase (1961-64, the beginning of the Sino-Soviet
split), both China and the Soviet Union gave little assistance.
The fourth period (1965-72) was characterized by renewed Soviet
assistance and a drop in Chinese assistance. In the fifth period
(1973-84), China's support for North Korea increased steadily
while the delivery of major equipment from the Soviet Union
declined significantly. In the sixth period (1984-89), especially
after Kim Il Sung's visit to Moscow in May 1984, Soviet military
assistance to North Korea grew dramatically as Chinese military
assistance declined. The Soviet Union supplied North Korea with
major weapons systems, including late-model jet aircraft, SA-2D,
SA-3, and SA-5 SAM systems, and significant support equipment.
Cooperation intensified in other military areas. There were
yearly joint naval and air force exercises from 1986 to 1990,
exchanges of high-ranking military personnel, reciprocal aircraft
and warship visits, and exchanges of military intelligence. North
Korea permits overflights by Soviet reconnaissance planes and
bombers, and grants warships access to ports.
The economic and political reforms taking place in Eastern
Europe and the Soviet Union in 1989 produced a shift in relations
with North Korea. Naval exercises with the Soviet Union were
stopped in 1990. As of mid-1993, North Korea's security relations
with the CIS and Russia were in flux. North Korea's military
relations with Russia have cooled considerably, although there
are indications that both countries are attempting to reestablish
relations on a pragmatic basis. Press accounts indicate that
Russia has assumed its treaty obligations with North Korea. In
March 1992, the CIS chief of staff General Viktor Samonov visited
North Korea and signed an "annual plan for the exchange of
manpower" and an agreement on mutual cooperation. General Samonov
indicated that CIS military logistic support is being supplied on
a commercial basis and that North Korea is having difficulty
meeting the payments.
P'yongyang supported Beijing's response to the Tiananmen
Square incident in 1989. By the early 1990s, Chinese-North Korean
relations had grown warmer, although cooperation apparently has
not involved the transfers of major weapons systems. China's
relations with South Korea do not appear to negatively affect its
relations with North Korea.
Data as of June 1993
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