Cover of "Tumen Triangle Tribulations" by Andray Abrahamian

The Tumen Triangle region-where North Korea, China and Russia meet-is, in many ways, the story of regional integration being held back by the political concerns of Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow. There are long-term forces at work here, such as Moscow’s concerns over Chinese dominance in the sparsely populated Russian Far East. This legacy of mistrust frames cross-border interactions and despite recent warm relations, major cross-border cooperation remains limited.
In this USKI Special Report, Andray Abrahamian, Director of Research at Choson Exchange examines historical legacies, contemporary relations and shifting strategic priorities between the three countries. The report then focuses trade and investment in the Tumen Triangle region, particularly how the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Primorsky Krai interact with and affect Rason Special City, the center of the Rason Special Economic Zone.

Download the USKI Report, “Tumen Triangle Tribulations: The Unfulfilled Promise of Chinese, Russian and North Korean Cooperation,” by Andray Abrahamian.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andray Abrahamian is the Director of Research for Choson Exchange, a non-profit specializing in training for North Koreans in business, economic policy and law. He is an Honorary Fellow at Macquarie University and was a CSIS non-resident Kelly Fellow. Andray has a PhD from the University of Ulsan, in which he examined media discourse and our understanding of North Korea and an M.A. from the University of Sussex, which focused on US-Korea relations.