Based on real RIPE Atlas measurements from GeoCables monitoring infrastructure, March 2026
At just 200ms, the Belarus–South Korea route is surprisingly efficient for a distance of over 7,000km. While landlocked Belarus has no direct submarine cable access, the path through Moscow and Hong Kong is one of the most well-optimized routes in our Eurasian measurement set.
The Traceroute
| 1–2 | Minsk, BY | A1 Belarus (AS42772) | 7ms |
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| 3–6 | Minsk, BY | Business Network / NTEC (AS12406/AS60280) | 2ms |
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| 7 | Moscow, RU | TransTeleCom (AS20485) | 11ms |
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| 8 | Hong Kong, HK | (unknown carrier) | 178ms |
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| 10–14 | Seoul, KR | Korea Telecom (AS4766) | 200ms |
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The key jump: Moscow (11ms) to Hong Kong (178ms) — 167ms for ~6,400km. This is consistent with a direct fiber route from Moscow through China to Hong Kong, likely using TransTeleCom's trans-Siberian backbone connecting to Chinese carriers.
Why This Route Works So Well
Belarus → South Korea is one of the cases where BGP routing actually follows geography reasonably well:
The Trans-Siberian Fiber Route: Russia's TransTeleCom (AS20485) operates one of the world's longest terrestrial fiber networks — 75,000km running parallel to the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok. From Vladivostok, submarine cables connect directly to South Korea and Japan. The Moscow–Hong Kong RTT of 167ms for ~6,400km implies an average propagation speed close to the theoretical maximum.
Korea Telecom's Clean Handoff: Once traffic reaches Hong Kong, Korea Telecom (AS4766) takes over with a clean direct route to Seoul. KT operates its own transpacific cable infrastructure including
<a href="/cable/korea-japan-cable-network-kjcn">Korea-Japan Cable Network (KJCN)</a> and
AJC (Asia-Japan Cable).
Minsk to Seoul: The Full Picture
- Minsk → Moscow (11ms): A1 Belarus → NTEC → TransTeleCom. Clean domestic routing through Belarus's national exchange.
- Moscow → Hong Kong (178ms): TransTeleCom's trans-Siberian backbone, then handoff to Chinese carriers routing through Hong Kong.
- Hong Kong → Seoul (200ms): Korea Telecom direct — likely via APG (Asia Pacific Gateway) or <a href="/cable/eac-c2c">EAC-C2C</a> submarine cable.
200ms: Acceptable for Almost Everything
At 200ms round-trip, this connection supports:
- Video calls: good (below 300ms threshold)
- Online gaming: acceptable for most genres
- Financial trading: marginal (traders typically need <50ms)
Monitoring Status
- Current RTT: 200ms | Best path in our Eurasian database
- Path: Minsk → Moscow (TransTeleCom) → Hong Kong → Seoul (Korea Telecom)
- Key insight: Trans-Siberian terrestrial fiber outperforms routing through Europe for East Asian destinations
