Issue Minilateral Korea-Japan-ASEAN cooperation through RCEP and a joint digital vision

Summary

Despite similar economic structures and interdependent production networks, bilateral economic cooperation between Korea and Japan has been hard to institutionalize because of various political issues. In this setting, minilateral cooperation within multilateral platforms such as RCEP and IPEF is emerging as a meaningful way for the two countries to deliver practical results. The report calls for strengthening Korea-Japan-ASEAN cooperation by activating and upgrading RCEP, raising its utilization and rule standards and adding emerging issues, and for deepening regional cooperation across East Asia. Japan's long experience and trust in Southeast Asia give the two countries favorable conditions for joint minilateral initiatives. It also proposes a joint vision for digital transformation built on trust and innovation with digital leaders such as Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Implementation steps include leading issue-specific cooperation and rule improvements on rules of origin and carbon reduction within RCEP, joint digital pilot projects and technical norm discussions, and digital capacity-building projects for ASEAN states.