January 10,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (January 2014)

Japan was on Korean minds in the final months of 2013, occasionally interrupted by new reasons to recall North Korea’s looming presence. The year ended with less reason for optimism in both relationships and lingering uncertainty about what that may mean for US and Chinese relations. The Korea-Japan Relationship Before Abe’s year-end visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, the mood was ripe for re..

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)
Jang Song-Thaek , military influence , multilateralism , Park-Abe summit , political stability , Yasukuni Shrine
January 10,2014 Open Forum

Power Shifts and Policy Dilemmas in Northeast Asia

At the beginning of a new year it should be useful to take a fresh look at the power posture of each of the major powers active in Northeast Asia, considering the impact of their different approaches. A year ago I gave a shorthand description of the power posture of each of them in an oral presentation to the China Forum organized by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. This article drawn from r..

Han Sung-Joo*
normal state , Rebalancing , tandem development , Trustpolitik
December 20,2013 Topics of the Month

Japan-Russia Relations – 6

The monthly articles that I have been writing since July on Japan-Russia relations are at an end, and this is going to be my final contribution to the series. There have not been vital events that need commentary in December; so in this last contribution I want to touch on one issue that was not discussed in depth in the past articles, and then introduce a short wrap-up of my views on current Japa..

Kazuhiko Togo
eco-tourism , fisheries , hikiwake meaning , historical literacy , joint rule , right of residence , Territorial agreement
December 20,2013 Country Reports

Country Report: China (December 2013)

The escalating tensions with Japan have featured strongly in China's traditional and online media in the past two months, but especially in recent weeks. China's announcement of a new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) to be established over the East China Sea sparked a strong response from Japan and the United States, which led to further harsh remarks from China. Prime Minister Abe's critici..

Editorial Staff
ADIZ , Diaoyu , Jang Song-Thaek , Joseph Biden , non-interference in internal affairs , Shinzo Abe
December 09,2013 Open Forum

Washington Insights: Issue 3

With this issue we begin an addition to the Open Forum, reflecting on recent conferences and talks in Washington, DC and by high US officials on the themes covered in The Asan Forum. Our objective is not to report specifically on who said what, apart from speeches by top officials, but to give a sense of the tenor of remarks by those knowledgeable about US policies. There is no place comparable fo..

Editorial Staff
No. 1 ally , North Korea’s priority , principled realism , Trustpolitik , what is rebalancing , Who is No. 1
December 06,2013 Open Forum

Japan’s “Smart” Strategic Engagement in Southeast Asia

After his recent visits to Cambodia and Laos, Abe Shinzo has become the first Japanese prime minister to visit the ten ASEAN countries within the first year of his mandate. This achievement highlights two developments; Japan’s “return” to the region and a new appraisal of Southeast Asia in Japan’s strategic calculations. In a previous policy paper, published in January 2013,1 I showed that..

Céline Pajon
liberal partner , maritime capacity building , multilateral security , security-oriented ODA , South China Sea , strategic comeback
December 06,2013 Open Forum

Synopsis: The Asan Beijing Forum 2013 “Korea and China: Next 20 Years”

The Asan Institute recently held its inaugural forum in Beijing on Sino-Korean relations: “Korea and China: Next 20 Years.” The two-day forum drew participants from South Korea, China, Japan, and the United States. While the dominant theme of the forum was the nature of and prospects for a stronger relationship between China and Korea, the participants carefully considered this relations..

Editorial Staff
common history textbooks , competitive coexistence , helping North Korea develop , joint pressure on Japan , unbalanced regional order , unequal trade
December 06,2013 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (December 2013)

In 2013 attitudes toward other countries did not substantially change in contrast to the tectonic changes of 2012, when Japanese awakened to a dangerous region. In the annual survey, Yoron chosa, issued in November, one reads of further improvement in relations with and friendly feelings toward the United States, already at record high levels, and slight improvement in these measures with Russia, ..

Editorial Staff
2+2 Meetings , Active pacifism , cultural arrogance , feeling friendly , historical honor , schools toward South Korea , spheres of influence , status quo power
December 06,2013 Open Forum

The Indo-Japanese Strategic Partnership: Asia’s Response to China’s Rise

For all the focus on China’s ascendancy, the developing strategic and economic entente between Japan and India may eventually prove to be as important in shaping Asia’s future. In many respects, India and Japan could not be more different: one has more poor people than any other nation on Earth; the other was the first non-Western society to fully modernize. The order and discipline of Japanes..

Daniel Twining
Act East Policy , Confluence of the two seas , freedom of the seas , India , ODA , Republic Day celebrations , trilateral groupings
November 22,2013 National Commentaries

Japanese Perspective

"China and International Law/Norms: A Japanese Perspective" Signs of China respecting and complying with international law and norms are mixed at best. Assuming that international law and norms are the foundation of the postwar liberal international order, established and sustained by the United States and other advanced democracies including European states and Japan, I use the conce..

Soeya Yoshihide*
Abe Shinzo , East China Sea , International relations theory , National Security Liberal international order , proactive pacifism , South China Sea , unilateralism , value diplomacy