Trade Pattern and Prospect in the Northeast Asian Area

Abstract

Although economic cooperation among the Northeast Asian countries has been discussed actively both in the academic circle and amont policy practitioners, it still remains at the hypothetical and/or primitive level. Only, active discussions evidence the possible benefits that will come by when actual cooperation is realized. The backgrounds for these discussions are as follows. First, recent approachment among the countries in Northeast Asia along with a global trend of detente suggests great potential for mutual cooperation among countries with different ideologies and economic systems in the region. It is evident from rapidly increasing commercial relations, cultural exchanges, and even diplomatic relations that closer economic interactions will benefit the countries in the region. Second, complementarity of these countries in endowments furthers the necessity of economic cooperation in that it will help them resolve problems with which they face now: economic difficulties of North Korea, development plan of China, need for developing the Far East area of Russia, relative backwardness of the East Sea side of Japan, and Korea's need to restructure the industrial structure. These problems may be solved through economic cooperation, thanks to the endowmnet distribution that is complementary to each other. Third, recent trends to form economic blocs such as EC and NAFTA prompt these countries to respond to these trends. That is, the new structure of the world economy caused by economic regionalism necessitates economic cooperation in this region.