Putin has put a lot of effort into the development of Russia's Far East. Due to several reasons, partnerships with China and Japan would be difficult, but South Korea, on the contrary, would be a perfect alternative for cooperation, the newspaper Korea Joongang Daily writes.

According to the media source, the Russian leader has made several important steps to develop Russia's Far East, and to accomplish his plans, he will clearly need cooperation with South Korea.

The newspaper wrote that theoretically Russia could cooperate with China and Japan, but this step would have a number of difficulties. First of all, Russia is intimidated China's population of by 1.3 billion as well as its wealth acquired as a result of recent decades of economic growth, the article said.

Beijing has already proposed to join its north-eastern provinces with Russian border towns aimed at developing the Northern Sea Route. However, Moscow didn't particularly like this idea, the author mentioned.

At the same time, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has established a very close friendship with Putin but Tokyo is close to Washington, and Russia has a territorial dispute with Japan, the article said.

That is why South Korea would be the best partner for Moscow in the development of Russia's Far East riches. The country doesn't pose a military threat to Russia and, at the same time, is a strong industrial power.

"Russia watched how China benefited from its close relationship with Korea. It views Korea as a partner that can help it shake its fear over China's expansion," the expert wrote.

South Korea will also benefit from cooperation with Russia.

"Russia could be an alternative destination for Korean intermediary exports, which have been hurt by China's slowdown stemming from its sluggish exports to Europe following the British vote to exit the European Union," the newspaper wrote.

Moreover, experts advise to set up a joint industrial park near the border between Russia and North Korea, which over time might attract workers from North Korea. Thus, thanks to the cooperation between Moscow and Seoul, South Korea might improve relations between the two Koreas. According to the newspaper, the country's authorities shouldn't miss such this chance.