APEC and emerging regionalism in North East Asia

Abstract

This paper explores what kind of regional trade agreement is most likely to emerge in Northeast Asia by tracing the trajectories of APEC. Taking into account the underlying potential of realizing cumulative causation effects between market expansion and technology cooperation among China, Japan and Korea, it reaches the tentative conclusion that a Northeast Asia Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) might take shape in the near future despite the prevalence of polarized versions in the cultural heritage and the international relations between these three countries.

Recent developments on RTAs in North East Asia

“…The promotion of a new inter-regionalism between the EU and East Asia can be one of alternative breakthrough approaches which may contribute to the facilitation of the RTA in North East Asia. Hwang (2006) gathers tentatively that the RTA in North East Asia region may be achieved by pooling common threads among China, Japan and Korea. Although its realization is still at a very early stage, it may be accomplished by reinforcing one of the following scenarios.…”

ASEAN and Human Security: Challenges and Opportunities

“…This treaty was signed by all member countries and many other non-members who wanted to become "dialogue partners" of ASEAN. The TAC is a very ambiguous document that is mostly concerned with defending the rights of the individual nationstates and also defines the procedures to be followed in the organization and by non-members who want to deal with it as "dialogue partners" (Emmers, 2001;Heller, 2005;Hwang, 2006;Limaye, 2007;Rolfe, 2008;Severino, 2007;Simon, 2008;Vu-Tung, 2007).…”

“…The previously mentioned principles have been at the core of ASEAN since its establishment in the late 1960s. Those same principles were included in the TAC and finally they reappear in the ASEAN Charter (Emmers, 2001;Heller, 2005;Hwang, 2006;Limaye, 2007;Rolfe, 2008;Severino, 2007;Simon, 2008).…”