Asia Rising and Our Shared Future: Seoul Dialogue
Tuesday, February 16, 2016 - The 5th edition of Asia Society’s Asia Rising and Our Shared Future dialogue in Seoul, hosted by Mr. Dong-Bin Shin, Chairman of the Asia Society Korea Center, could not have come at a more opportune time. It came in the wake of mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula, owing to the recent nuclear tests and the launch of a long-range rocket. It also coincided with the day North Korea celebrated the birthday of Kim Jong Il, the father of the current North Korea leader, Kim Jong Un. As the Asia Rising dialogue was getting underway, South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye was boldly declaring that her country will be taking the lead using “stronger and more effective” measures to prevent belligerent North Korea from realizing its nuclear ambitions.
The gathering brought together leading thought leaders, including some of the world’s top experts on North Korea, who had in varying capacities influenced the course of relations between the uneasy neighbors that make up the Korean Peninsula. The robust, often candid, discussions focused on the challenges and frustrations of dealing with a hostile North Korea and how its actions and the reactions of neighboring countries continue to shape the geopolitical landscape of Northeast Asia. There was a general consensus that the level of misperceptions and miscalculation on the part of the major stakeholders—South Korea, China, Japan and the US—continue to run high, which has a direct bearing on their sense of urgency and degree of responsibility. Moreover, with regard to regional security, there is a pronounced lack of strategic thinking on the part of China and the US, and both are currently employing megaphone diplomacy. Both East and Southeast Asia are subsets of the US-China relationship.
The dialogue also covered the promises and limitations of both the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) through economic opportunities and domestic reform and where each fit into the strategic geopolitical make-up of the region. The TPP, in particular, has to be a balance between high standards and inclusiveness, and most wonder if the US congress will support the TPP post-Obama and the implications of its survival. The dialogue closed with the recognition that the region as a whole needs positive security cooperation which would help balance the long-term security culture and promote economic advances in the region.