(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Oct. 9) - East Asian community

The three-nation summit in Beijing on Saturday could hardly come at a more
delicate moment both in and outside the region.
Globally, the Irish people's yes vote on the Treaty of Lisbon will push the
27-member European Union to just a few steps away from a single political entity
complete with a president and foreign minister, reminding East Asian nations of
how disintegrated they are.
Regionally, the top leaders of South Korea, Japan and China are meeting when the
North Korean nuclear crisis is about to re-enter into dialogue after a yearlong
impasse.
Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Prime Ministers Yukio Hatoyama and Wen Jiabao will
find themselves being forced to combine the seemingly two separate issues into
one, as it will be nearly impossible to discuss the possible integration of East
Asia without first solving the biggest security problem in the region over the
past two decades or so.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen is expected to explain the results of his recent
meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il before the three leaders discuss
their joint strategy for denuclearizing the isolated country. Conservative
commentators here maintain in this regard that Seoul and Tokyo should call for
Beijing not to deviate from the regional and international common front, based on
the two-track tactics of sanctions and negotiations.
That is an agreeable approach, but the participants are advised not to go further
from there. It is widely agreed that the ongoing deadlock in the six-party talks,
which also include the United States and Russia, was due in large part to the
hard-line tactics of Japan under the former Liberal Democratic Party leadership
under the pretext of abductees and other bilateral pending issues as well as
South Korea, miffed by the U.S. administration under former President George W.
Bush, which delisted the communist country as a sponsor of terrorism without
reciprocal changes in Pyongyang.
It is highly doubtful, however, whether it would be wise for the two countries to
let their past grudges continue to hamper any progress in the multilateral
disarmament efforts. The three leaders are urged in this regard to exchange views
on new and more future-oriented approaches based on changes in regional
circumstances, including the new governments in Washington and Tokyo.
Even without discord over North Korea, the three Northeast Asian countries have a
long way to go before even taking the first step toward forming the East Asian
Community as Europe did 57 years ago.
There are too many stumbling blocks in the way to taking what the new Japanese
leader is saying into action, including the hegemonic struggle between the
world's second- and third-largest economies, historical differences among the
three countries and territorial disputes each of them has with one another.
No less difficult will be the integration of Northeast and Southeast Asian
nations in view of the wide gap in their levels of industrialization as well as
difference in political systems.
It is against this backdrop that calls are made for Seoul's role as a ``regional
balancer." It is a concept first floated by the late former President Roh
Moo-hyun, who, however, had to withdraw his proposal both because of signs of
displeasure from other Northeast Asian capitals and even because of opposition
from his domestic political rivals, who criticized the idea as lacking in
practicality in view of Seoul's weak diplomatic leverage.
For now, we are just hoping President Lee's so-called new Asian doctrine will
help Korea play the role of regional mediator.
(END)