In 1990, South Koreans were looking back on two years of democracy with mixed feelings of satisfaction and anxiety—satisfaction because they had successfully shaken authoritarian rule, and anxiety because the experiment had yet to clear its precarious first stage; political parties were still unstable and the promised local autonomy had not materialized. Japan, meanwhile, was going through its own brand of political upheaval: in a House of Representatives election, the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) managed to hold on to its majority, but only after having lost it in the House of Councillors. LDP rivals were clearly gaining strength and threatening the party’s exclusive hold on power.

This is the background that emerges in this volume of essays. They were first presented at the 9th Korea-Japan intellectual exchange meeting held in Oiso Japan, in April 1990 under the joint sponsorship of the Asiatic Research Center of Korea University and the Japan Center for International Exchange. The essays examine various aspects of Korean-Japanese relations and the factors that shape them in the post-cold war world, including domestic politics and economics in both countries, the role of the United States, and the impact of the East European revolutions on Asia.

1. Changing Role of the US in International and Regional Systems

Ahn Byung-Joon, Yonsei University, South Korea

2. Two Years of Democratic Experiment

Han Sung-Joo, Korea University, South Korea

3. Political Economic Changes in East Asia: Foreign-Policy Implications for Japan and the United States

Hideo Sato, University of Tsukuba, Japan

4. Economic Implications of East-West Detente for the Asia-Pacific Region and Korea-Japan Relations

Kim Wan-Soon, Korea University, South Korea

5. East European Revolutions in Reverse

Yutaka Akino, University of Tsukuba, Japan

6. Domestic Political and Economic Development in Japan

Sueo Sekiguchi, Seikei University, Japan

7. Present State and Future Challenges in Korea-Japan Intellectual Exchange

Auh Taik-Sup, Korea University, South Korea

8. Challenges to the Promotion of Academic and Intellectual Exchange between Korea and Japan

Tadashi Yamamoto, Japan Center for International Exchange

Chang Dal-Joong, Seoul National University, South Korea