Since the end of the Cold War, Northeast Asia has been one of the most dynamic and dangerous parts of the world. Encompassing Japan, the People’s Republic of China, and North and South Korea, the region has undoubtedly acquired a greater global geopolitical and economic significance in recent years. Now home to two of the three largest economies in the world, with the exception of North Korea, all of the countries in the region experienced rapid economic development which has resulted in Northeast Asia accounting for one-fifth of world production, one-sixth of world trade, and one-half of the world’s foreign currency reserves. This great economic dynamism is complemented by the tremendous political forces that animate the region, such as China’s ascendency to a global power challenging the United States and the European Union, tensions over nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula, and Japan’s desire to validate itself as a legitimate international force with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. All of these modern issues faced by the region are matters of international law. Northeast Asian Perspectives on International Law: Contemporary Issues and Challenges contends that international law is not only poised to take a bigger role in bringing about a resolution to these questions, but international lawyers of the region are working to bring about greater regional cooperation and integration as seen in other regions in the world. This edited volume was inspired by the first joint international academic conference of international lawyers from the Chinese Society of International Law, Japanese Society of International Law, and Korean Society of International Law which took place in Seoul, Korea on July 3, 2010. With a range of timely topics including, but not limited to, North Korean human rights, the South China Sea, and Japan’s efforts in UN peacekeeping operations, the esteemed contributors to Northeast Asian Perspectives on International Law: Contemporary Issues and Challenges examine how international law can promote peace and justice in Northeast Asia. Legal scholars, students of international law and international relations, policymakers and historians will find Northeast Asian Perspectives on International Law: Contemporary Issues and Challenges to be an invaluable resource.

As the world?s political and economic landscape changes in response to the rise of Asian countries such as China, so Asian influences on the global legal order will become more pronounced. Many countries in the region, such as Japan and South Korea, influence the development of international law in various ways, either individually or collectively through multinational organisations such as ASEAN. This collection of published work by leading East Asian scholars covers Asian perspectives concerning various issues in international law, ranging from general perspectives to particular themes such as international economic law, international human rights law, international ocean law, international criminal law, international security law and international dispute settlement. For the first time it provides a comprehensive picture of how and why East Asian countries participate in international law making, as well as comply with international law in their state practices. In so doing, the editors attempt to address the question whether the rising powers in East Asia will change the existing international legal order in future.

Northeast Asia is one of the most important regions of the world both economically and in terms of its historical heritage. The region poses significant challenges for international law whilst international law can unleash cooperative endeavours which can place the region in a formidable location in the new multi-polar world order. This work sets out a contextual regional approach to international law focusing on the relations as between China, South Korea and Japan. In particular the author deliberates on the historical development of international law in the region, the relationship of international law with the Chinese, Korean and Japanese legal systems; historical disputes as between the three States; and the respective practices in the sphere of monetary and trade relations. This work will be of interest to international law scholars, practitioners and policy makers.

Although modern international law is now recognized as universally applicable to all the states as soon as they emerge as independent entities (whether members of the United Nations or not, they are accepted as members of the ever-expanding international society, and are bound by its rules and seek its protection), this is only a recent phenomenon not older than the United Nations itself. Before the Second World War, modern international law was supposed to be merely a law of and for the civilized Western European Christian states, or states of European origin, and applicable only between them. Not only Asian and African states which had come to be colonized, but also the position of independent states, such as Persia, Siam, China, Abyssinia, and the like, was said to be anomalous. Since they belonged to different civilizations, questions were raised as to how far relations with their governments could be based on the rules of international law. If that is the case, when did European international law become universally binding? Can states, which did not, and could not, participate in its origin and development question some of its rules, which are inimical to their interests? How can and does this law change, or be modified, in the absence of any supra-national legislature or other authority? What has been the attitude and practice of these newly independent Asian and African states towards international law, which was largely developed by and for the benefit of the rich and industrialized states of Western Europe and the United States, and even more importantly, their role in its development? The author, an Asian scholar and well-known Professor of International Law, trained and educated in the West, has sought to deal with these and other questions in the nine papers contained in this book.

In The Legality and Legitimacy of the Use of Force in Northeast Asia, Brendan Howe and Boris Kondoch bring together distinguished authors with extensive Northeast Asian backgrounds to offer a diverse and comprehensive evaluation of when it is right, from regional perspectives, to use force in international relations. The use of force in international relations has been severely curtailed by pragmatic considerations of international order, and further constrained by positive international law. In Northeast Asia, the prohibition of aggression has remained uncontested. Strict adherence to non-intervention in Northeast Asia has, however, increasingly come under attack from internal and external normative communities. The contributors, therefore, use regional legal, normative, cultural, and historical insights to shed light on the contemporary positions of Northeast Asian political communities with regard to the use of force.

"Northeast Asia is one of the most important regions of the world, both economically and in terms of its historical heritage. The region poses significant challenges for international law, whilst international law can unleash cooperative endeavours which could place the region in a formidable location in the new multi-polar world order. This work sets out a contextual regional approach to international law focusing on the relations between China, South Korea and Japan. In particular the author deliberates on the historical development of international law in the region; the relationship of international law with the Chinese, Korean and Japanese legal systems; historical disputes between the three States; and the respective practices in the sphere of monetary and trade relations. This work will be of interest to international law scholars, practitioners and policy makers."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Launched in 1991, The Asian Yearbook of International Law is a major refereed publication dedicated to international law issues as seen primarily from an Asian perspective, under the auspices of the Foundation for the Development of International Law in Asia (DILA). It is the first publication of its kind edited by a team of leading international law scholars from across Asia. The Yearbook provides a forum for the publication of articles in the field of international law, and other Asian international law topics, written by experts from the region and elsewhere. Its aim is twofold: to promote international law in Asia, and to provide an intellectual platform for the discussion and dissemination of Asian views and practices on contemporary international legal issues. Each volume of the Yearbook contains articles and shorter notes; a section on State practice; an overview of Asian states participation in multilateral treaties; succinct analysis of recent international legal developments in Asia; an agora section devoted to critical perspectives on international law issues; surveys of the activities of international organizations of special relevance to Asia; and book review, bibliography and documents sections. This volume offers Asian perspectives on topics including : treaty-making power in China; the crime of aggression, illegal fishing and the destruction of environment in armed conflicts.