Korean Navy forces patrol off Dokdo on the East Sea.

In the beginning of the 21st century, when “globalization,” “regional unity,” “cooperation,” and “coexistence” have become the ideas of the era, why is it that, uniquely, historical and territorial tensions are growing between Korea, China, and Japan? Experts are looking for that answer in the “battlefield of nationalism” to which this region, which differs from the postmodern West in that its still in the “prime of modernity,” seems to be rushing. For all three countries -- Korea, China, and Japan --building modern nation-states is still the top priority, and they trying to use nationalism to focus their peoples’ energies in order to build those nation-states.

Nationalism can easily become exclusivist and aggressive, and it’s natural that surrounding nations become the first targets. The fact that within these three countries, the nationalism displaying its strength is not the result of government initiatives but arising from the peoples is even more uncommon. The common theory is that as societies become more democratic and complex, they usually become more open to and cooperative with other nations. In this region, however, this theory isn’t holding; on the contrary, the fact that as civil societies in this region have grown stronger, they have become more nationalistic in an exclusionary way is a unique characteristic worth paying attention to.

China’s “Northeast Asia Project” was started by the nation’s leading figures and scholars, while Japan’s nationalist movement is led by social groups. Just by looking at the recent “cyber-war” fought by Korean Internet users who banded together in order to shut down Japanese Web sites after Japan protested the Korean government’s decision to print Dokdo stamps, one can see that nationalistic tensions are ones that cannot be solved through negotiations and dialogue between governments. According to Kim Dong-seong, a professor at Joongang University, government pressure on these movements may backfire, as they were started in accordance with the needs of civil society.

Chinese nationalism is growing stronger as it gropes its way to becoming a new nation under President Hu Jintao. In this case, nationalism, rather than the more passe ideology of socialism, serves as the psychological focal point for China’s economic development and rise as a great power. In order to prevent its countless ethnic minorities from trying to break away, it espouses an idea of a “Greater China” while seeking to incorporate the histories of its minority peoples into its own.

Japan, too, has witnessed a sudden rise in nationalist feeling. Since the 1990s, as Japan’s economy continued to be mired in recession, slogans of building a “Strong Japan” have shown wide appeal, and social movements aiming to build ethnic pride have appeared one after the other. This is the result of the political collapse in Japan of leftist parties like the Socialist and Communist parties, and politicians have gone out of their way to ride the social wave of nationalism.

Why is it that in these three countries, nationalism is conspicuously rising? Scholars say that the roots can be found in the history of modernity -- as modernity set in, invasions and colonization, control and resistance were all experienced. The American scholar of international relations, Gerrit Gong, said that politics in Northeast Asia are dominated by issues of memory and identity. All three countries --not only China and Korea, but even Japan, on account that it lost World War Two -- consider themselves victims, leading them to distrust and attack one another.

In this clash of nationalisms, however, the point drawing most attention is that a new component is being added to the “China+Korea vs. Japan” conflict system, which has endured until now. As China grows in both economic and international political strength, fissures have developed between it and Korea. According to Shin Uk-hui of Seoul National University, the current situation has forced people to think deeply about Korea’s long-term relationship with China, a relationship Koreans hadn’t expressed much interest in.

Scholars forecast that as nationalism grows in Northeast Asia, tensions over history will continue and the problem of “managing the understanding of history” will become a core issue. Cooperation between Korea, China, and Japan will continue in accordance with those nations’ economic and political needs, but the sudden rise of nationalism and conflicts over history can lead to unplanned and explosive flare-ups. (Lee Seon-min, smlee@chosun.com )