Rise of Geopolitics and Changing Korea and Japan Trade Politics

• Published in: East Asian economic review Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 27 - 48
• Main Authors: Choi, Byung-il, Oh, Jennifer S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sejong Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) 01.03.2022; Korea Institute for International Economic Policy; 대외경제정책연구원
• Subjects: Decades; Geopolitics; Global economy; Hegemony; International relations-US; japan; korea; Politics; trade; Trade agreements; trade conflict; Trade liberalization; Trade policy; Trade relations; Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement; World War II; 경제학; East Asia; United States > US; China; Japan
• ISSN: 2508-1640; 2234-8867; 2508-1667; 2287-8793
• DOI: 10.11644/KIEP.EAER.2022.26.1.404

In the past decade, Korea and Japan have increasingly exhibited different strategic priorities in trade in face of Chinas rising global economic prowess and worsening USChina trade conflict. Japans trade policy decisions have worked to reinforce its economic and security ties with the US as a means to counter China. Japan has used both bilateral and multilateral means to secure its ties with the US against China. In contrast, Koreas trade policy positions have been one of strategic ambiguity. Korea has been more conciliatory towards China, reluctant to take actions that would counter Chinas interest. Korea has mainly resorted to bilateral channels to maintain favorable relations with both China and the US. Koreas reluctance to clearly ally with the US against China has been observed across different administrations with opposing political orientations. This paper examines Korea and Japans diverging strategic priorities in trade through the 2017 World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference; the 2017 US imposition of Section 232 on steel; the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Korea-US FTA renegotiation and the Korea-China FTA Phase Two Negotiation; and the 2019 Japan-US Trade Agreement.