RELEASE EMBARGO DATE: April 23, 2014 at 9:00 AM

Panel: East Asian Power Shift (PR)
Date/Time: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 / 09:00-10:15
Talking Points for: Kim Sung-han, Korea University

US has been playing a stabilizer role through its military presence in Asia. The withdrawal of US forces from Asia would lead to unstable system in which major powers will be involved in unlimited power competition without being converged on a stable international order. Now it appears the U.S.-China relationship is moving toward cooperation, but it is likely that conflict and confrontation will resurface as the power gap between them narrows in the years to come. Korea’s Park government gives highest priority to ROK-US alliance since it is the linchpin of peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region. The Park government also tries to have better relationship with China on the premise that the central axis of Korea’s foreign and security policies is the ROK-US alliance and that US-ROK and China-ROK relations can be compatible, not being a zero-sum relationship. When CJK(China-Japan-Korea) relationship is recovered on the basis of Japan’s correct sense of history, we could have more opportunities for US-led alliances to coexist with Northeast Asian multilateral security dialogue. This kind of “strategic equilibrium” would be the most ideal state in which we can manage the risks arising from the East Asian power shift.