Reconciliation in the Korean Peninsula and Peace in East Asia

To speed up their economic development and strengthen their international competitiveness, the Eastern Pacific countries have developed close ties of cooperation with their neighbors, especially in the area of trade. As a result, the traditional tensions of the zone, mainly in northeast Asia, have been lowered. Despite great advances, particularly economic, in East Asia, certain antagonisms persist that, for the moment, seem unsolvable. Given the environment of interdependence between the area’s countries, the conflicts in the northeast will have an immediate repercussion on the nations of the southeast. This essay highlights the need for Korean reunification and the creation of peace and stability conditions in the peninsula and in the rest of the region to be the greatest world priority. It is divided into three sections. The first describes the general conflicts that persist in East Asia, as well as the focus of greater tenseness in relations between the countries of the area: the Korean conflict. The second analyzes the positions of the powers involved in the intra-Korean conflict: Russia and Chine, and the United States and Japan. The third analyzes the current process of Korean reunification, based on the lessons left by the recent German experience.