Peace On The Korean Peninsula And East Asia

This book contains the text of the Singapore Lecture delivered by Kim Dae-jung on 27 November 2000.

Will the twenty-first century be the Asian century? Will the People’s Republic of China overtake the United States as the leading global superpower? Will an armed conflict break out on the Korean peninsula, and can it be contained? While opinions differ strongly, there seems to be a certain consensus that the East Asian region, roughly defined as Northeast Asia (China, the two Koreas, Japan and the Russian Far East) plus Southeast Asia (ASEAN), will be ever more globally significant in the years to come. This book critically addresses the potential of the liberal concept of collective security to provide a solution, with a focus on the Korean peninsula.

Using a case study based approach, Weissmann analyses the post-Cold War East Asian security setting to demonstrate why there is a paradoxical inter-state peace. He points out processes that have been important for the creation of a continuing relative peace in East Asia, as well as conflict prevention and peacebuilding mechanisms.

The remnants of Cold War politics stand in the way of Northeast Asia's adjustment to the post-Cold War era. This book examines the security policies of Japan, China, Russia, the US, and Australia in the Northeast Asia region, with reference to attempts to re-unify the two Koreas.

In the post-Cold War era, US relations with the two Korean states - the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) - have been undergoing profound changes, with critical and immediate repercussions for peace and security in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. This volume examines the key political, security and economic aspects of US-ROK and US-DPRK relations, focusing on the current status, salient issues and future prospects. Drs Kwak and Joo are distinguished professionals in the field and their volume constitutes a very interesting addition to the available literature.