ON THE OCCASION OF THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA Keywords: Republic of Korea, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, contacts of scientists of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the USSR, scientific works on Korean topics in Russia, prospects for the reunification of the two Korean states September 30, 2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the day when the Foreign Ministers of the USSR and the Republic of Korea (ROK) signed a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in New York. This event was preceded by a great deal of work, in which Russian Orientalists also took part. Yuri Vasilyevich Vanin then worked in the Department of Socialist Asian Countries of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. At the request of the editorial staff, he shared his memories of this event. The establishment of diplomatic relations between our country and the Republic of Korea is a big historical topic. I can't reveal it in full. Therefore, I will tell you only about what concerns me and my participation in the events of a quarter of a century ago. POSITION OF SCIENTISTS Since the 1960s. The Institute of Oriental Studies constantly raised the question, as it was then customary to say, before high "authorities" about the need to review Soviet policy in the Korean direction. It basically boiled down to the fact that we automatically supported any initiatives of Pyongyang and did not put forward our own initiatives in relation to Seoul, which would correspond to the national interests of the USSR. We usually sent our proposals either to the International Department of the CPSU Central Committee or to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This work was supervised by Doctor of Historical Sciences G. F. Kim (later corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences), who was then in charge of our department. Researchers F. I. Shabshina, V. S. ... Read more