ABSTRACT

The past three decades witnessed the dismantling of the socialist economy and the rise of emerging economies, which has had a significant influence on Northeast Asia as well as the whole world. We should remember that the opening-up of Russian and Chinese economies to the outside world was launched at the beginning of the 1990s, and both emerged as regional powers at the beginning of the 2000s. The chapter intends to answer the following two questions. First, how far has economic integration proceeded among Japan, China, and South Korea over the past three decades? Second, what has been the advancement in economic relations between these three countries and Russia in this period? By answering these two questions, the chapter examines whether economic cooperation or integration among these four countries has advanced significantly in the past three decades and considers future perspectives. The chapter sheds light on foreign trade data among these countries, the importance of natural resources to specific sectors of Northeast Asia, and the growing centrality of foreign direct investment (FDI) to the regional economy.