2020 witnesses the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Russia. Despite concerted efforts over the past 30 years, the current state of mutual understanding and cultural exchange between the two countries has been characterized by «disinterest, misunderstanding» and «imbalance». Almost half of the citizens of both countries have little interest for the other. The national images of Korea for Russians and of Russia for South Koreans consist of extremely contrasting elements, and in particular, the image of Russia for many Koreans is still strongly associated with the image of the USSR. There is a serious imbalance in the cultural exchange. South Koreans are not interested in Russian everyday culture, and Russians are not familiar with Korean high culture.