Events
On January 11-13, Chair Chaesung Chun of EAI Asia Security Initiative Research Center and Chair Yul Sohn of EAI Center for Japan Studies presented at the Council of Councils 7th Regional Conference in New Delhi, India. The conference covered issues that included, but was not limited to, the new geometry of extremism and instability, internet governance, post-2015 climate change agreements, future multilateral trading systems and nuclear Asia.
During the first session on “Nuclear Asia,” Chair Chaesung Chun looked at nuclear governance challenges facing the Northeast Asian region in the perspectives of 1) nuclear 3S (safety, security, and safeguards), 2) North Korean nuclear problem, and 3) U.S.-China rivalry. He asserted that due to the Fukushima disaster there has been a distorted focus on safety recently and that less attention has been paid to the other two areas. Moreover, despite no immediate risk of nuclear arms race between the U.S. and China, increasing competition toward Asian countries between the two is another challenge. From a South Korean perspective, the major issue still remains North Korea’s nuclear program. To this end, Chun emphasized that because North Korean “nuclear” problem is linked to the “North Korean” problem, South Korean and global efforts to engage North Korea should be combined with the efforts for nonproliferation.
In the session on “Future of Multilateral Trading Systems,” Chair Sohn argued that the trade-investment-services nexus requires 21st-century trade rules regarding intellectual property rights protection, movement of people, government procurement, and labor standards. Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) or Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), both initiated by the U.S., is such agreement with 21st-century trade rules. According to Sohn, such inclusion of rules and disciplines that might require domestic reforms and market access brings resistance to neoliberal globalization and liberalization. Another complicated issue is that of China, who is pursuing its own trade agenda via the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and its favored plan of enlarging a regional wide framework via the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). In the end, Sohn argued that the trend toward FTA proliferation will continue, and increasing trade liberalization will erode WTO centrality, but trade rules themselves whether regional or mega will continue to be contested by rival countries.
Source: The Council of Councils website
| Reference Links |
Agenda: Council of Councils New Delhi Regional Conference (PDF)
Conference Papers: Council of Councils New Delhi Regional Conference (PDF)