Author Description

With the coming of so-called G2 era, guaranteeing cooperation with China is a rising strategic task when it comes to the North Korean problem and Korean reunification. There is a clear limit, however, in guaranteeing Chinese cooperation due to the Republic of Korea (ROK) and China’s different perceptions on Korean reunification while economic interdependence between these two states is increasing. In international society, cooperation could be achieved on the basis of shared interests, but issue by issue, shared interests in and of themselves may not be enough. “Strategic leverage,” in other words, might be necessary in order to induce some kind of inter-state cooperation. This research was undertaken in the context of the above-mentioned questions, with regard to building up diplomatic leverage that could lead to possible ways to induce Chinese cooperation. This research was undertaken in the context of cooperation with Florence Lowe-Lee at the Global America Business Institute; Dr. Jae H. Ku at the U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University; and Professor David Hawk at the City University of New York. Researchers Kwon Hye-Jin, Moon Mi-Young, Ro Young-Ji, An Hyun-Jung (former member) at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) and Wonhee Lee at the U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS also devoted much effort in making it possible to publish this volume. as did coeditor Dr. Jae H. Ku. As the chief editor of this volume, I sincerely appreciate all these efforts. It is my hope that this research helps academics and experts as well as general audiences better understand the dynamic relationship between core and periphery in China, the relationship between China and its weak neighboring countries, China and international human rights organizations, and North Korean human rights. Jung-Ho Bae, senior research fellow, Korea Institute