Peace and Stability in Northeast Asia amidst US-China Strategic Competition

The ever-growing strategic competition between China and the US has intensified the risk of confrontation and narrowed the space for cooperation both regionally and globally. At the regional level, Northeast Asia has been one of the hotbeds where this competition has developed the most, especially on the economic and security fronts. On the security front, Northeast Asia has seen an increase in assertive national policies or hedging stances. Throughout 2020 and now, there has been a stark increase in military hardware development for countries such as the DPRK, the ROK, Japan and China. This has put countries like South Korea and Japan that have a long-standing partnership with both the US and China between a rock and a hard place and pushed them to pursue starkly different strategies.

So far, both Tokyo and Seoul have avoided becoming trapped in an overly adversarial relationship with China, while limiting any dilution of their alliance ties with the US. However, against the backdrop of this increasing Sino-American rivalry and geopolitical shift in Northeast Asia in particular Seoul and Tokyo might be ill-equipped to integrate their security and economic objectives and maintain their hedging policies. All these nations, the US, China, the ROK and Japan are at a crossroads in their relations, inaction is not an option and thoroughly calculated strategies are the only solution to avoid further and more dangerous frictions in the future.

Did you miss the webinar? Watch the online recording here.

This webinar is a collaboration by the ISDP and Korea Defense Veterans Association.

Mr. Hiroki Sekine, Senior Advisor to the Corporate Planning Department at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

Mr. Markus Garlauskas is a nonresident Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council.

Dr. Li Nan, Senior Fellow, Pangoal Institution and Associate Research Fellow, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of American Studies.

Dr. Yong-Sup Han is a Professor Emeritus of Korea National Defense University in the Republic of Korea and Visiting Fellow at ISDP’s Stockholm Korea Center.

Mats Engman, Distinguished Military Fellow at ISDP will be moderating the event.

The Center would like to acknowledge that this event was generously supported by the Korea Foundation.