[Session 4] Northeast Asia and LIO

Session: Session 4
Date/Time: April 25, 2018 / 13:30-15:00

Moderator:
Evans J.R. Revere, Albright Stonebridge Group

Speakers:
Lee Yong Wook, Korea University
Douglas H. Paal, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Daniel R. Russel, Asia Society Policy Institute
Soeya Yoshihide, Keio University
Wang Dong, Peking University

Panel Description
No region faces a clearer divide between the liberal and illiberal world orders than Northeast Asia. The prosperous liberal democracies of South Korea and Japan, both allies of the U.S. and host to more than 50,000 U.S. troops, are living proof that the LIO is alive and well in the region. However, non-democratic China, Russia, and North Korea are rapidly improving their military capabilities, destabilizing the LIO and the long held balance of power which undergirded it. Yet despite the disparities in their political systems and divergent national interests, all of the parties, with the exception of North Korea, have integrated their economies and benefited enormously from globalization. Can liberal and illiberal political systems coexist peacefully in Northeast Asia? What can regional actors do to reduce tensions throughout the region?