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This tripartite (Korea/China/Japan) conference, the first of its kind held in Japan since the Great East Japan Earthquake, was viewed by all of the participants as a new turning point. The significance of this conference held under the grand theme 'Cooperation among Korea, China, and Japan in a New Era for East Asia,' lies in our situation where issues from the past still persist and call for a new era. The purpose of this conference was to seek path to co-prosperity and enhanced peace for the three nations. In other words, this conference was designed to coordinate the interests of the three nations facing various challenges and collect their ideas necessary to form an East Asian community in the future.

Changing East Asia: Past and Future

The 4th conference on tripartite cooperation consisted of three sessions. For each session, three speakers and a discussion panel of three provided focused presentations and discussions. Due to the limited space, let me present only a brief summary of each of the sessions with focus on the key presentations as below.

First, Session 1 was focused on the theme 'Korean Peninsula-North Korea, from the Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-un Regimes.' Okonogi Masao (specially appointed professor at Kyushu University) gave a presentation on "Kim Jong-un Regime: Establishment and Foreign Relations" in which he explained the significance of challenges facing the new political regime of North Korea and their policy. Of three historical challenges facing Kim Jong-un, two have been accomplished to a certain degree: possession of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, and establishment of a close relationship with China, a superpower now. The only challenge that remains for him to accomplish is to build a strong nation out of North Korea. Therefore, Professor Okonogi argued, it is the historical role of Kim Jong-un to build on the legacy of Kim Jong-il to achieve the sustainable existence of North Korea and a North Korea-led unification of two Koreas.

And he explained that the transformation of the political regime of North Korea, i.e. the establishment of the Kim Jong-un regime, had been masterminded by Kim Jong-il. He had expanded the roles of the Labor Party, and Kim Jong-un emerged as the successor with support from the party. Finally, he argued that while a group of advisors had been organized, who would aid the new leadership of the Kim Jong-un regime, it would remain to be seen how the new regime should be defined.

Next, in Session 2 focused on the theme 'Korea, China, and Japan in the Transition of Government, and East Asia,' Soeya Yoshihide (professor at Keio University) explained "the political situation of East Asia at a turning point and the political diplomacy of Japan." He noted that the security environment surrounding both Korea and Japan had started changing rapidly, and that China, having tipped the balance of power in the world with its rise, held the key to the extent of confusion. And he argued that the nationalism of the two-faced China today reflects their view on national interests, how they value national sovereignty and conservation of national land, and China thinks of it as demand for the rights and interests that they deserve as a superpower in Asia, and as no threat to other countries. It may be said that such a view is common to Korea, Japan, and Western countries.

He said that China and Japan should avoid all-out confrontation while maintaining mutually independent relationship in economy. The same goes for Korea, of course. I hope that Korea and Japan will help China become part of the free and open international order and that China will become a responsible state within the region.

Lastly, in Session 3 themed 'Korea/China/Japan in History and for the Future-Opportunities in Twenty Years of Korea-China Diplomatic Relations and Forty Years of Japan-China Diplomatic Relations,' Kamo Tomoki (Professor at Keio University) explained that over the four decades of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, the two countries have experienced changes in how they regarded each other and achieved remarkable progress in economic development and human exchange, and from the late 1990s, in particular, they were beginning to see gradual increases in bilateral trade volume as well as significance increases in human exchange while the sentiment of their peoples against each other has been getting worse. And I gave a presentation on "International Politics of East Asia in 'Establishing Diplomatic Relations': Conflict, Establishing Diplomatic Relations, and Attempting Cooperation" in which I presented the significance of normalization of diplomatic relations in East Asia and changes in the structures of international politics in East Asia, and explained that Northeast Asia is finding itself recently in intensified competition rather than cooperation.

Concluding Remarks on the Tripartite Conference

The 4th conference may be summarized into the following three key points. First, it was held in Japan in a period of transition following the Great Earthquake; it was significant in that it was possible to discuss the issue of tripartite cooperation even though Japan was still facing the challenge of overcoming the great disaster and the chaotic situation in domestic politics. Secondly, the Korean Peninsula was still the major subject of discussion; discussion on what will become of the Kim Jong-un regime of North Korea after the death of Kim Jong-il is of importance to the stabilization of international politics in Northeast Asia. Thirdly, it received a lot of attention because it was the first conference held since the opening of the secretariat for tripartite cooperation.