ABSTRACT
Recently, the argument about economic integration within East Asia 2 has flourished. 3 However, the institutionalization of regional integration has never been easy to achieve because of historical complications in this region on the one hand, and conflicting positions among countries with regard to the protection of their own industries on the other. In contrast, the international division of labor in Asian countries such as China, Japan, and Korea, that is, a de facto economic integration, has rapidly developed along with increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) and international production linkages among these countries and with other Asian economies (see Chapter 9). In discussing the relevance and the feasibility of an argument and/or movement for economic integration, we would have to consider the form these economies take, respectively, the differences between them, and their interdependence or complementarity to each other. Therefore, we require an analysis of the diversity of Asian economies.
