Russia, China, and North Korea Strategic Defense Partnership

Due to the aggravation of the global geopolitical confrontation, the relations in the sphere of security issues within the framework of the Russia - China - North Korea triangle get particular importance. The purpose of the study is to analyze the current state and prospects of the strategic defense partnership between Russia, China, and North Korea. The authors used the following methods: a system approach, a method of situational analysis, a comparative method, a method of analyzing the current situation, as well as a method of scenario forecasting. The authors analyzed the relations between Russia and China in the military sphere, Russian-North Korean relations in the security sphere, as well as the role of China and North Korea in ensuring stability in the region. It is concluded that in the current conditions of rising tensions in the AsiaPacific region, primarily on the island of Taiwan and the Korean peninsula, these countries will converge, first, against the triangle USA - Japan - South Korea, often called “Asian NATO”. To conclude, the relations between Russia, China and North Korea will not take the form of a fullfledged military alliance. It is expected that the efforts of military-technical cooperation and the possibility of mutual support in the event of a security threat to one of the countries will be deepened.