(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Dec. 16)

East Asian Union
Is Korea Really Ready Itself for Regional, Global Changes?

Northeast Asia, which has long been an arena for animosity and competition, is
rapidly turning into a stage of amity and cooperation.
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who will arrive in Seoul Wednesday, said
Saturday he hoped to see the ``realization of both the Korea-China free trade
agreement and an East Asian community in the not so distant future."
On the same day, Ichiro Ozawa, secretary-general of the Democratic Party of
Japan, stressed the need for enhancing solidarity among the three Northeast Asian
nations, during a lecture in Seoul.
Pessimistic Koreans might have felt that both Secretary-General Ozawa, widely
considered a ``kingmaker" in Japanese politics, and Vice President Xi, who is
expected to succeed Hu Jintao as China's top leader in 2012, were competing to
bring Korea to their side in a new hegemonic battle in this part of the world.
Optimists, however, can look at the situation as a new chance for the country to
enhance its status as a mediator and coordinator.
Since the global financial crisis, regional integration seems to be accelerating
throughout the world, as seen in the Treaty of Lisbon in Europe and the
tightening of other existing regional groupings in Africa and Latin America. So
it would be rather strange if East Asia, whose combined economic might was
forecast to exceed that of Europe's next year by the International Monetary Fund,
remains an exception. For Northeast Asia in particular, which together accounts
for 70 percent of East Asia's economy, the time has long past to pay attention to
this new global trend.
It remains to be seen, of course, whether the first power transfer in Japan after
a half-century rule by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party and the advent
of the fifth-generation leadership in China will dissolve the deeply-accumulated
historical enmity between the three countries. Much depends on how sincere Japan
will be in its admission of past wrongs and how determined it is in opening a new
era of cooperation. Considering the three old rivals cannot remain as such
forever, the atmosphere in this part of the world will begin to change, sooner or
later. What matters is whether Korea is prepared to meet such regional, global
political and economic changes.
Some Korean politicians and academics say Korea could be a catalyst or bridge
making the most of its geographic advantage as a peninsula linking the two
giants. The experiences of the past century, however, show that the small
in-between country is nothing but a means of passage, unless it is wide awake and
solidly united.
Even now, President Lee Myung-bak seems to think the hosting of regional and
global summits will automatically enhance the nation's international status.
Again, history shows only countries that have sufficient humanistic merits, such
as freedom and fraternity, deserve international respect.
The only weapons Korea, the smallest and weakest of the three Northeast Asian
players, has to stand shoulder to shoulder with its larger neighbors, are its
genuine democracy (compared with China's still authoritarian governance) and
civic, grassroots strength (compared with Japan's largely statist strategy).
Sadly, both have undergone noticeable setbacks under this administration.
Moreover, Korea, which would have to wage an uphill battle even in its entirety,
is now divided in half, and the ``clock of reunification" also seems to have been
set back over the past few years. There can be no East Asian Union without a
peaceful solution to the North Korean problem.
(END)