동아시아 지역질서의 재구성 再論 - 中心의 相對化를 위한 모색 -

초록

As China emerged as a superpower, the regional order of East Asia formed from the modern era hasstarted to undergo structural change and therefore the concept of East Asia should be redefined. Thus far,a lot of criticism about the concept and scope of East Asia has been made. Regarding reconstruction ofEast Asia's regional order, this paper intends to argue the following points. First, such reconstructionshould be premised on existing nation states. Second, that China is the center should be recognized. Third,such center should be relativised. This paper considered East Asia as fluid space, not an unchanged entity,and divided it into six subregions by greatly expanding its scope: Great China subregion, Northeast Asiansubregion, Mongol subregion, Turkistan subregion, Tibetan subregion, and Southeast Asian subregion. China as the center has overlapping areas culturally and historically with each subregion and throughthis it has association with each subregion. East Asia is a plural space where overlapping and at the sametime heterogeneous cultures coexist and may be viewed as a complex space where the center and thesubcenters interact. China exists as the center of all subregions and this centrality cannot be denied. Inaddition, China is conceiving the regional order of East Asia amid strategic consideration of global order. In other words, the nation takes into account all subregions and is creating strategies for each subregion. Nonetheless, such central characteristics of China are never unilateral or unchanged. Historically and at thepresent, China has existed amid interaction with the subcenters and the nation has been relativized throughsuch interaction. Moreover, the subregions exist independently and are connected with each other; Thesubcenters have interconnectivity. Amid such connectivity of the subcenters, the center is relativised. Thispaper aims to present a new discourse on East Asia by expanding the scope of East Asia and focusing onconnection among the subregions, and provide a theoretical ground for Korea's strategies for East Asia.

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