Meaning of Korea-China-Japan Cooperation in the Era of U.S.-China Confrontation

Junghwan Lee

Professor at Seoul National University

factnnorm@gmail.com

   The fact that the Korea-China-Japan Summit began with the ASEAN+3 Summit symbolically shows that Korea-China-Japan cooperation has progressed along with regional cooperation in East Asia. However, the Korea-China-Japan summit sin the late 2000's can be seen as a continuation of formal procedure, but also as a new function to hedge exclusivity in the minimized multilateral competition. If the past examples of the suspension of the Korea-China-Japan summit are directly related to historical and territorial issues between these countries, the current suspension and resumption of the Korea-China-Japan summit are directly related to the U.S.-China confrontation. With the short reconciliation mood between the U.S. and China, the resumption of Korea-China-Japan cooperation is being sought and it is necessary for Korea to utilize the opportunity. On the other hand, for the long run, it seems necessary to consider the strategic implications of Korea-China-Japan cooperation in Korea's active diplomatic initiatives in the era of U.S.-China confrontation beyond the discussion of choice or strategic ambiguity between the U.S. and China.