Integrative Discussion1 - East Asian Economic Community The topic for the integrative discussion was East Asian Economic Community. The panel discussed the formation of East Asian Economic Community that Korea, China, Japan (ASEAN +3) are leading and the roles that the three countries should play. Lee Jeong-woo, an Economics professor at Kyungpook University, moderated the discussion. Sohn Byung-hae, an International Economic Trades professor at Kyungpook University, insisted, “After late 1990s, East Asian countries’ trades with EU and the U.S. decreased while the dependency on regional trades increased. Considering the changes made in the world market order, we need to establish East Asian Economic Community.” Recently, the U.S. hegemony has been weakening and European economic integration has been falling apart. Under such circumstances, the development model that depends on the markets of the advanced countries would not work anymore. Professor Sohn said, “In order to maintain Capitalism as a sustainable economic development model, Capitalism needs to embrace East Asian values of ethics, morals and the harmony between humans and the nature. Korea needs to take the lead in developing principles of community that can actualize ethical economic thoughts.” There were vaguely conflicting opinions on the roles of China and Japan. He Xiyu, an Economics professor at Fudan University said, “China’s rising economic status will become a strong force that drives the East Asian economic integration. Chinese strong influence on world’s economy will leverage the regional integration. Kim Mideok, an Economics professor at Tama University of Japan, insisted that, “Without recovering the trust between the North and Japan, there can’t be peace in Northeast Asia.”