Area Of North And Northeast Asia Cooperation From The Public Product Research

On the basis of the theory of Regional Public Goods, this paper dedicates itself to the motivation, necessity and possibility of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) involvement in the regional integration of the Northeast Asia.In the post Cold War era, economic globalization and market economy take the center stage. Regional Public Goods has attracted ever-increasing academic attention as the result of more intense regional competition and emergence of regional public issues. Shedding new perspectives on regional cooperation and integration, the theory argues that it is the major trend of international relations whereby countries within a certain region will jointly source, finance and manage public goods serving the region given the worldwide undersupply of public goods. According to the theory of Regional Public Goods, a nation is willing to undertake costs of public goods, rather than taking "free-rides", so as to benefit from regional development.Northeast Asia is one of the most important regions in the international community. As the major economies in this region, China, Japan and Republic of Korean (ROK) have become key partners in cross-border trade and investment. Their ever-closer economic ties facilitate the cooperation in politics, business and culture. However the regional cooperation in Northeast Asia moves along very slowly, the fact that is attributed to diverse factors in history and reality. Among them, DPRK is no doubt the loose link and main reason. In terms of regional security, power between the north and south remains unbalanced. The US-Japan-ROK alliance remains very strong, if not stronger. The relationship between DPRK and US-Japan-ROK alliance is still very confrontational and the US is trying to marginalize DPRK, rather than removing the blockage and containment. The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is still in thick mist, and even might trigger another war. In the economic dimension, DPRK has been suffering from grain supply shortage and mounting external debt because of frequent natural disasters and flawed economic systems. The ripple-over effect of the grim situation in DPRK spells a negative concern hanging over Northeast Asia. If this concern is neglected or not addressed properly, the security hazards will linger in the region and the genuine regional integration cannot be achieved. Therefore countries in Northeast Asia should, through appropriate means and channels, get DPRK involved in regional cooperation, help this country relieved from its economic difficulties, and diffuse conflicts and differences so that DPRK will let off its cautions, abide by the international norms, and embrace the global community as soon as possible.Positioning DPRK as an important participant in the Northeast Asian integration, this paper analyzes the domestic and foreign policies of DPRK and the status quo of the regional cooperation, as well as discusses the necessity and possibility of including DPRK in the regional cooperation. The paper tries to identify a viable model that gets DPRK integrated into Northeast Asia and hopefully can contribute to the ease of tension in the Korean Peninsula. Following the thread of thoughts, the paper consists of two parts.1. Literature Review which focuses on four key issues:i. Motivation of providing public goods; ii. Necessity of providing regional public goods; iii. Possibility of providing public goods; iv. Ways of providing public goods.2. Case study. By applying the theory of Regional Public Goods, the paper elaborates on the motivation, necessity and possibility of getting DPRK involved in the regional integration of Northeast Asia.