2010, Vol.17, No.3

Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.61

pISSN : 1225-8539 / eISSN : 2671-5171
https://journal.kci.go.kr/japs

This study aims to suggest alternatives for the realization of the economic zone in East-sea rim region, while researching the geopolitical changes and current status of economic cooperation. The East-sea rim region generally includes countries bordering East-sea, such as South Korea, Japan, North Korea, China(Northeastern Three Shengs) and Russia(Far East Area). However, in this study, the East-sea rim region only includes South Korea, Japan, and China due to the lack of data. Possible alternatives are as follows. Multi-layered and progressive approaches that simultaneously considers the spatial and temporal factors are essential to economic cooperation in the East sea rim region. Gradual expansion of economic cooperation in East-sea rim region can take a significant role in building the Northeast asian regional economic zone. In short-term, it is advisable to enhance the economic cooperation in a specific feasible region or industries. And in the long-term, the scope of the cooperation could be expanded from East-sea rim region to North-east Asia. The most practical alternative is the materials industry cooperation using the resources of the East-sea rim region. However, the economic cooperation could be expanded under the mutual trust considering the uniqueness and diversity of each countries. Enhancing the mutual interest and the political leadership of each country are also needed to build regional economic zone. Especially, South Korea should play as an arbitrator to prevent China and Japan from fighting for regional hegemony.

Whales in East-sea rim are the symbol animals have related with culture and histological perspectives of East-sea rim. Although it was called the whale sea at Ming dynasty and Yuan dynasty, but we can’t show many whales in this area anymore. These whales are the ecological crisis animals of East-sea rim. In this study, I have the purpose to know the reason of whale crisis in East-sea rim. I suggest, there are three major reasons of the ecological crises. First is indiscriminate fishing for eating purpose. The reason of the whale crisis by-catch is known that the materials of fishing tools but Korea and Japan government are not active to find the solutions. The problem of eating whale has been considered as traditional food culture of this area. Second is environmental contamination of East-sea rim particularly by persistent organic pollutants (POPs). In the several reports, these whales of East-sea rim were shown high concentration of POPs or mercury. It is related with the rapid industry development of this area’s surrounding countries like Korea, Japan, and China. The increase of the water temperature in this area due to the climate change can be another important factor controlling the whale populations. There are several reports the number of whale in East-sea rim increased in 2009~2010. It has been suggested that the increase water temperature is related with increase the number of whale, but it is just a temporary status. Basically, we have to find the solution for whale conservation of East-sea rim and the cooperation with other surrounding centuries likes Japan, China and Russia. I suggest it can be the basic solution of peace sharing in this area and win-win situation for surrounding countries in East-sea rim.

This paper explores the development of multilateral cooperation networks of the local governments in East Sea Rim region, which were initiated in 1990s in order to develop local economies in the region. The multilateral networks including the Association of Northeast Asia Regional Governments (NEAR) and the Governors’ Conference of Local Governments in Northeast Asia were established for the institutionalization of cooperation among the regional local governments. Despite an initial high expectation, however, these networks haven’t been made a visible progress in the development of multilateral cooperation. Persistent real politics issues shaping Northeast Asian affairs including North Korean hostility, territorial disputes and conflict over the distortion of history among regional countries have hindered the local governments from moving toward a meaningful progress in institutionalized cooperation. Besides, the mixture of vulnerable industrial base and weak economic and financial structure of the local governments and their lack of capacity in actual implementation of the cooperative networks also contribute to the slow progress. By thoroughly reviewing current situation of the cooperation networks, this paper suggests several development strategies including the enhancement of mutual understanding among local governments, the exploration of cooperative agendas attracting the active participation of stakeholders (local governments, business interest, social groups), and the strengthening of linkages with other existing cooperation channels in the East Sea rim region.