Abstract

In October 2003, the political leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea held their formal summit on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Bali and issued a Joint Declaration on the Promotion of Tripartite Cooperation for the first time in their long history of over two thousand years. In 2011, the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat was officially inaugurated in Seoul. Over the years, the tenor and frequency of the China-Japan-South Korea summits have been shaped by the vicissitudes of trilateral relations. Capitalising on growing concerns about the Trump administration, China has attempted to expand its economic relations with various regional organisations and countries in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East – notably, renewing its interest in the China-Japan-South Korea economic partnership, which it had previously neglected.

This seminar will examine the current state of China-Japan-South Korea cooperation, its benefits and challenges, and the prospects for future trilateral cooperation.

About the Speaker

Makio Miyagawa has held successive positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Legal Desk Chief, Deputy Director of the US-Japan Trade Division and of the Russian Division, Director within the Economic Affairs Bureau and Asia Oceania Bureau, Deputy DG (Director-General) of Climate Change Negotiations, DG of Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, and DG of Middle East and North Africa.

He served in the Japanese embassies in the UK and Malaysia, and in the Japanese Mission in Geneva. He also held the position of Special Advisor on National Security, National Security Secretariat, within the Cabinet Bureau of Japan. He received a D.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford University, and a BSc in Aeronautical and Spacecraft Engineering from the University of Tokyo.

He has lectured at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and at the University of Tokyo and has served as Director of the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA). He has published numerous books and articles, including “Do Economic Sanctions Work?” He received the distinction of Commandeur de L’Ordre National du Mérite (Commandeur) from the Republic of France.