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An eventful year for Northeast Asia
From Rebecca MacKinnon
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- It has been an eventful year for Northeast Asia, leadership change, family reunions, economic uncertainty and nuclear standoff. The year began with U.S. President George W. Bush calling North Korea part of an "axis of evil." "North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens," Bush announced. It ended with nuclear crisis as North Korea unsealed a plutonium processing facility that had been frozen since 1994 -- potentially enabling production of nuclear bombs. In South Korea the year ended with a new president-elect, Roh Moo-hyun. From the same party as outgoing president Kim Dae-jung, Roh is expected to continue Kim's "Sunshine Policy" of engaging North Korea, which could lead to disagreements with Washington over how to deal with the communist North. "If America takes a hardline position then Seoul is destined to take a soft position ... Korea and Japan are not American colonies. They need to have their own independent diplomacy," comments Chung-in Moon of Yonsei University. Japanese militaryJapan deepened its alliance with the United States and for the first time since World War II deployed military forces overseas on a military mission supporting the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan by refueling U.S. ships. Japan's post-war constitution forbids its forces from actually waging war. "It has been a historical moment for postwar Japan ... Japanese people are now seeing eye to eye the fact that yes we can contribute to the international peace-building process without the fear of revisiting militarism," says Yukio Okamoto, a Japanese diplomatic consultant and former Foreign Ministry official. Japan also tried to engage and help disarm North Korea, with Prime Minister Koizumi making an unprecedented visit there in September. But relations stalled over a dispute about the fate of five Japanese abducted by North Korea in 1978. Chinese history was made in 2002 with a peaceful leadership transition. Hu Jintao took the helm of the Chinese communist party from his mentor Jiang Zemin, but unanswered questions remain. "We are still not too sure whether Jiang Zemin will retire completely, or whether he will still try very hard to retain his power and position," says Joseph Cheung of the City University of Hong Kong. Jiang legacy
One Jiang legacy, was a greatly improved relationship with Washington in 2002. Beijing's relations with Taiwan -- an island it considers part of China, have also improved. "There is a greater confidence on the part of China, because they understand the economic integration across the Taiwan Strait has become an irreversible trend," comments Cheung. China's confidence was also boosted by gangbusters economic growth, expected to hit around 8 percent for the year. Japan, on the other hand, is expected to have grown less than one percent. "History will look back and say that, oh the year 2002 was when the main bulk of the Japanese economy has begun to migrate to China," predicts Okamoto. For Northeast Asia in 2002, most people's concerns were ruled by economic issues. But as 2003 begins, the region could be sidetracked by nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, which must be resolved if instability and even war are to be avoided.
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