Korea’s regional economic role

Conclusions The deepening of economic integration in Northeast Asia and East Asia as a whole will be a major dynamic of change that will accelerate in the coming years, and the ROK is well positioned to play a number of critical roles in the way that this process unfolds. There are limits, however, on what can feasibly be expected. Korea's ambitions to be a larger regional player should be tempered by political and market realism. Continuing efforts to improve the business environment in the ROK to attract FDI will need to accompany efforts to expand regional roles. It also seems inevitable that coordination of political and security dimensions to the US-ROK relationship with the implications of the ROK's growing regional economic activities and relationships will become more complex and demanding on both countries in the future, and both should be prepared for this likelihood.     

A new phase in Japanese economic cooperation

The merging of the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) and the ExportImport Bank of Japan to form the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) signals a new phase in Japanese economic cooperation. In this article, Akira Nishigaki, former president of the OECF , describes the role and significance of Japan's official development assistance and considers recent policy trends and issues. It is essential for the peace and prosperity of Japan and of the world as a whole, he says, that Japan maintain favorable relations of interdependence in the international community. In this spirit, he expresses his hope that in funding and implementing assistance the JBIC will continue to strengthen Japan's considerable contribution to the development of developing countries.     

The world economic pattern in the 1990s and Asia-Pacific economic cooperation

The world economic pattern of the 1990s will have many characteristics. For example: 1) the world economy will tend to move further toward multipolarization and several fairly large regional economic blocs will be formed with these polars as their center; 2) the United States, Japan, and Europe will play a dominant role in the new world economic pattern; and 3) the Asia-Pacific economies will be the most vigorous part of the world economy. Since the 1980s, with the development of the internationalization of the world economy and regional integration, Asia-Pacific economic cooperation has entered into a new period. However, it is very difficult to form a close entity of economic cooperation (such as the EC) including the whole Asia-Pacific region. Perhaps it is more practical to found a subregional economic cooperative body, such as a “Northeast Asian economic sphere,” in the near future. This article was originally prepared for a roundtable conference on “Economic Issues in the Northwest Pacific: Perspectives in a Dramatically Changing World,” held December 14–16, 1990, in Oiso, Japan. The cosponsors of the conference were Taisho Research Institute, the Japan Economic Foundation, and The American Council on Asian and Pacific Affairs.     

建构东亚经济合作的新视角--中国-东盟自由贸易区的政治经济学分析

区域经济和贸易集团化是当今世界经济发展的重要趋势之一.与世界其它地区相比,东亚在区域经济一体化的进程方面明显滞后.国际政治经济学的分析方法为推动东亚经济整合提供了新的范式.中国-东盟自由贸易区的启动正是基于这种分析框架之上的有益探索.当前,在中共中央关于"发展是中国第一要务"的方针指引下,中国为推动地区经济合作提出了适合本地区经济发展特点的合作模式,这必将为中国整合地区经济,进而拉动中国经济持久增长提供新的动力.全力塑造东亚经济圈的努力正有条不紊地进行,东亚经济一体化将在艰难中曲折前进.     

Social injustice and economic dynamism in contemporary Korea

Abstract

This article examines the processes of labor market restructuring and welfare reform in South Korea since the 1997/98 crisis, arguing that the Korean state-capital complex has succeeded in effecting a substantial redistribution of income from labor to capital. This redistribution of income has played a critical role in enhancing Korea's international competitiveness and in facilitating a return to sustained growth. The principal mechanisms through which this redistribution has been achieved are the intensified exploitation of weaker sections of the proletariat and the reduction of the traditionally more protected organized sections of the workforce in major firms. At the same time, the state has strengthened welfare safety nets and sought to place concerns about structural competitiveness at the heart of the welfare regime through the promotion of vocational training. What has been most striking about the process of welfare reform, however, has been the capacity of the state to limit the growth of welfare expenditures/provision whilst simultaneously creating massive new labor market insecurities. As a result of the success of the Korean state in restructuring labor markets in order to effect a redistribution of income from weaker sections of the proletariat to capital and limiting the growth of social spending we have witnessed a marked increase in inequality since 1997. Korea's apparent success in transforming itself into a competitive, dynamic neoliberal economy must, therefore, be understood as being symbiotically linked to the intensification of inequality.     

Asia‐Pacific economic cooperation: Progress and prospects

Secretary of Foreign Affairs Domingo L. Siazon Jr. of the Philippines discusses the Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum's path to the present, and charts a map for its future. Siazon sees the importance of promoting greater private‐sector involvement in APEC and enhancing economic cooperation among member economies. Siazon discusses the special significance of this year's meetings to be held at Subic Bay in the Philippines, the former home of the US Pacific Fleet and now a growing industrial and tourism center. Pursuing APEC's free‐trade goals, he says, holds the brightest economic future for the Philippines and the region.     

Sino-South Korean economic cooperation: An analysis of domestic and foreign entanglements

One of the most explicit manifestations of post-Mao China’s pragmatic foreign policy has been the significant shift in Beijing’s position vis-à-vis Seoul from a “non-policy” todefacto economic diplomacy. Despite the extent of cooperative endeavors, Sino-South Korean economic relations have been circumscribed by various domestic and external factors. While a further intensification of the cooperative relationship is projected for the second decade of Sino-South Korean economic diplomacy, the actual materialization of such prospects depends on how China and South Korea are going to maintain economic complementarity. More importantly, it also depends on when and how China is going to accommodate politically its economic relations with South Korea by resolving the issue of “two Koreas,” thus maximizing the potential benefits from its ties with Seoul and simultaneously minimizing the negative effects from the entanglements of various domestic and foreign factors.     

Saudi Arabia's rapprochement with Israel: the national security imperatives

The purpose of this article is to examine the evolution of Israel's relations with Saudi Arabia since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. The author explains how the major events in the Middle East affected Saudi Arabia's foreign policy orientation. It shows how Saudi Arabia's policy toward Israel was affected by the deterioration in Saudi-Egyptian relations, by its quest for security in the Arabian Gulf region and by its aspiration to hegemony in the Middle East. The author argues that Saudi Arabia's policy toward Israel remained far less hostile than that of the Arab states surrounding Israel. In addition, it argues that it was not until 1973 that Saudi Arabia became seriously involved in the attempt to pressure Israel to withdraw from the territories it occupied in the Six-Day War. The author concludes by showing that neither Saudi Arabia's acquisition of the intelligence-gathering AWACS aircraft, nor Israel's invasion of Lebanon or the massacre of Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila had a serious impact on the bilateral relations, and that it was not until the emergence of the Iranian nuclear threat that Saudi Arabia's relations with Israel began to improve.     

Problems of Russian economic reforms and prospects for economic cooperation between the Russian Far East and Northwest pacific countries

This article was originally prepared for a roundtable conference on “Perspectives on Economic Issues in the Northwest Pacific in a Dramatically Changing World,” held February 28–March 1, 1992, in Oiso, Japan. The cosponsors of the conference were Mitsui Marine Research Institute, the Japan Economic Foundation, and The American Council on Asian and Pacific Affairs.     

“Informal pluralism” and Japanese politics: Sino-Japanese rapprochement revisited

This study attempts to take the 1972 Sino-Japanese rapprochement as a case study testing the hypotheses that emerged from recent research on the pluralistic nature of Japanese politics. It concentrates on “informal pluralism,” an important characteristic of Japanese political life. Internal maneuvers of Japanese politics during the normalization process have been closely examined. These internal elements include: the Liberal Democratic Party—informal organizations in action, the ruling party/bureaucracy apparatus—informal channels, opposition parties diplomacy—informal styles, and intellectuals—informal advisory groups.     

An analysis of North Korea’s economic development with special reference to agriculture

The article examines North Korea’s record of economic development with special reference to agriculture. There has been some success in grain production using a centrally directed economy and the Juche method and Chungsan-ri spirit of farming. However, too much emphasis on grain production has resulted in shortages of other agricultural products, such as livestock and livestock products. A fundamental problem in North Korea is that the economy as a whole is supply-constrained, a common failing of planned economies.     

Security implications of economic and political nationalism in the United States and South Korea

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not represent the position of any U.S. government agency.     

Russia's energy governance transitions and implications for enhanced cooperation with China,Japan, and South Korea

A Tokyo-based economist and a noted western economic geographer, both specializing in the hydrocarbon resources of Russia, apply the framework of governance studies in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of the recent changes in the country's energy policy-making. The authors argue that, unlike the international relations paradigm prevailing in studies of Russia's energy policy, the country's multiple roles in the international energy arena (as producer, consumer, exporter, importer, and transit state) warrant a more nuanced approach, reflecting Russian energy policy's flexibility over time and diversity across space. This paper endeavors, therefore, to apply a political economy and governance perspective to an understanding of the significant changes in Russia's energy policy-making regarding its dynamic energy relations with the Northeast Asia (NEA; China, Japan, and South Korea). In exploring the complex interactions between Russia's internal energy policy-making and its emerging energy relations in NEA, the authors addresses three key questions, namely: (1) how Russia's Asian energy policy corresponds to its domestic needs, (2) how much coherence in energy governance and cooperation exists between Russia and the Northeast Asian states at the institutional and organizational levels, and (3) the extent to which Russia's expectations for increased energy cooperation with the Northeast Asian states are likely to materialize.