As the world recovers from the COVID 19 pandemic and exchanges resume, global connectivity is strengthening, leading to the reciprocal increase in the impact of transnational challenges. East Asia is no stranger to this: it is facing a myriad of challenges that transcend national boundaries, including geopolitical tensions, economic disparities, environmental concerns, and demographic shifts.

Collectively identifying common challenges and strengthening international cooperation to address such tasks are crucial in ensuring the stability and prosperity of the region.

In this context, the Republic of Korea launched the East Asia Cooperation Forum (EACF) in 2022 to analyze in advance various challenges commonly faced by countries in the region and explore cooperative solutions. By bringing together relevant actors including governments, international organizations and academia, EACF aims to search for the key to cooperation to tackle those concerns.

In particular, this year’s forum is held against the backdrop of the 9th ROK-Japan-China Trilateral Summit hosted by Korea this May. Given the proportion that three countries collectively make up in the world’s population, economy and trade, trilateral cooperation among Korea, Japan and China not only affects themselves but also has significant influence over the region and the entire world. On the other hand, trilateral cooperation is carried out under the region’s dynamics , bestowing it both necessity and responsibility to tackle regional issues.

It is no coincidence that the three leaders agreed on expanding the depth and width of the trilateral cooperation to extend the benefits of cooperation beyond themselves to other countries and regions in 2019, renewing its commitment in this year’s summit. In pursuit of implementing this decision to promote ‘Trilateral+X Cooperation’, trilateral cooperation extended beyond the three, this year’s EACF is held under the theme of “Trilateral Cooperation and Beyond―Responding to Common Challenges for Future Generations of East Asia.” The forum will focus on expanding the scope of Trilateral Cooperation in two dimensions: areas of cooperation and agents. Low birth rate-ageing society and climate change-energy-environment will be discussed in each designated session as potential cooperation domains. The third session will widen the scope of agents in trilateral cooperation to incorporate future generations.