[Building a New Tripartite Cooperation of Korea, China, and Japan]

Q1. As secretary general of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS), how do you think that a new tripartite cooperation among Korea, China, and Japan will be built? What roles do you think that the TCS will play in promoting cooperation and peace in Northeast Asia as well?

It is also a good practice to bring various international organizations to the Forum and organize sessions of their interest that are also conducive to promoting peace. TCS has been actively participating in the Jeju Forum since its establishment. In particular, since 2014 we have been organizing sessions to promote trilateral cooperation. This time we organized discussions on nuclear safety and tourism. The Secretariat’s duty is to raise people’s awareness about trilateral cooperation.
The Jeju Forum is a good place to promote trilateral cooperation. China, Korea, and Japan are very important to the region’s economy—their GDPs comprise 70 percent of the GDP of Asia. We want to build the East Asia economic community, and our three countries will play a big role. That’s why we hope to use this Forum to promote understanding and cooperation among the three countries.


[On Peace]

Q1. How will multilateral talks such as the Jeju Forum contribute to peace promotion?

The Jeju Forum has become globally famous in the past few years. This Forum is a good platform is a good place to promote Korea’s development and culture. While Jeju Island is already famous globally for its beautiful and unique nature and scenery, it also has many geopolitical advantages to be the home of international organizations. Jeju is strategically placed between China, Korea, and Japan, to promote trilateral cooperation. We at the Secretariat use this opportunity to organize some sessions with the Jeju Forum, so it’s mutually beneficial.
I believe that one of the major strengths of international forums such as the Jeju Forum is its power to gather prominent thinkers of the time and let them share their insights with all those interested in the respective issues. Jeju Forum has invited some very prominent leaders, including think tank researchers, university professors, journalists, even UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. It’s expanded and has become influential.


Q2. What should be the role of scholars, including peace researchers, in promoting peace?

Everyone has a strong desire to promote stability and prosperity across Northeast Asia. Of course we face some challenges and some special differences, particular in bilateral relations, among these nations. It’s normal for different countries to have different ideas, but how to deal with it properly is the most important. The three countries in Northeast Asia need to work on how to realize stability because without stability, economic development will be blocked. For TCS, our duty is as stabilizer and thruster of trilateral cooperation. We hope that the three countries can deal with their differences properly and focus on development.


Q3. How should think tanks contribute to peace promotion?

At this kind of forum—the Jeju Forum—we see all types of people: think tanks, journalists, social organizations, national government officials, local government officials. In thinking about how to promote understanding, the most important is communication. The Forum is an important platform to promote understanding and friendship, in order to promote stability and prosperity of the region.


* Amb. YANG Houlan is the secretary-general of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat.

Amb. YANG Houlan highlights the significant progress Korea, China, and Japan have made since 1999 in terms of political, economic, sustainable development, and socio-cultural cooperation through the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS). TCS’s duty, he says, is to help with all-around cooperation, and TCS also finds the Jeju Forum helpful to raise people’s awareness about trilateral cooperation. TCS has been actively participating in the Jeju Forum since its establishment, and the goals and interests of the two are mutually beneficial.Amb. YANG explains that the role of scholars and think tanks is very important for regional cooperation and peace because the intellectual basis they build has strong influence on the people’s perception and understanding of each other. He says the Jeju Forum should promote understanding and friendship, in order to promote stability and prosperity of the region.

* Interviewed on May 26, 2016 (Jeju Forum 2016)
Posted on November 15, 2016