A “detailed and tempting” blueprint for Northeast Asian cooperation may help bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, said An Gang, senior researcher of Pangoal, an independent think tank, in an article.
While other parts of the world have all made progress in regional cooperation, An said, Northeast Asia is the only area that has remained unaccomplished in this aspect. Insufficient mutual trust, competition over regional leadership and a lack of an overall scheme for economic cooperation are believed to be the major causes, according to the scholar.
While China’s Belt and Road Initiative was expected to kick-start a cooperation in Northeast Asia, according to An, escalating tensions surrounding the North Korea nuclear issue and the deteriorating geopolitical environment in the region have left the expectation unfulfilled. China’s deteriorating relations with Japan and South Korea are also to blame, but they are believed to come second to tensions between North Korea and its neighbors, according to the scholar.
The international community will have to offer certain incentives, such as economic benefits and the normalizing of diplomatic relations, in exchange for North Korea’s agreement to stop its nuclear activities, the scholar said, noting that a clear blueprint for Northeast Asian cooperation will make the incentives more predictable and convincing.
The scholar said that a cooperation can start between China, Russia and Mongolia, while suggesting Russia be given a leading role in the process as an incentive. He also suggested China, Japan and South Korea put aside political disagreements and push forward bilateral free trade pacts as a preparation for potential Northeast Asian cooperation in the future.
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