Russia cosies up to Japan in a pivot to Asia

Seoul

FUN fact - World War II is not over yet. Technically, Japan and Russia are still at war. After the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Joseph Stalin hurriedly ordered the Red Army to join the Pacific Theatre, declaring war on Imperial Japan. In the process, the Soviet Union "liberated" the islands of Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and the Habomai group. Even after Japan's surrender to the allies in August 1945, the USSR continued to occupy the "Southern Kurils", and Russian troops are stationed on the islands to this day.

This territorial dispute has long obstructed the…