한중일 3국 협력 현황과 발전 과제 연구

Abstract

Sharing geographic proximity and importance for one another, South Korea, China, and Japan experienced cooperation at times and frictions at other times, and yet have established a relatively peaceful relationship for thousands of years. However, Japan's policy of aggression, which began in the 19th century and escalated in the 20th century, along with the ideological changes in China and the Korean peninsula caused ruptures in the peaceful relationship. In the 21st century, the relationship worsened to the level of hostility due to unresolved historical and territorial issues and the nuclear crisis caused by North Korea. In terms of economic aspects, the three countries have made some progress in cooperating with one another. However, there are still many obstacles to their peaceful cooperation and development in terms of international situation, political system, and historical perceptions. A country can have more diverse dreams and enjoy more things when its power is stronger. However, it is impossible for a country to choose its neighboring countries or unilaterally decide the nature of its relations with neighboring countries. Moreover, the Northeast Asia region, represented by South Korea, China, and Japan, has been fraught with changing international circumstances in the 20th century due to the confrontational Russia-United States relations, the Korean War and the North Korean nuclear issue, which have considerably affected mutual exchanges and development in the three countries. Therefore, when it comes to trilateral cooperation between South Korea, China and Japan, it is not beneficial for respective countries to seek cooperation without resolving existing disputes and contradictions. The development of this trilateral cooperation can change regional order while ensuring certain level of power for the countries, which can influence various positive changes in Northeast Asia and East Asia. Therefore, cooperation between South Korea, China and Japan must be carried out as an international trend. Implementation of a full-scale cooperation would be desirable by granting adequate initiative and making institutional improvement for cooperation in addition to providing various motivations. Thus, through trilateral cooperation, the three countries should serve as a great driving force in leading peace and development at a global level beyond East Asia.