South Korea

[Leadership change in East Asia] creates a great potential for change. New leaders say things during their leadership campaign, and when they take office, can pursue new policies. This creates new context for bilateral relations and relations among countries in East Asia. It's a source of uncertainty, but it's also a source of opportunity.

But there are also important political considerations that have acted as roadblocks. FTAs are inter-governmental negotiations and when diplomatic relations are strained because of historical or territorial issues, the impetus for these official trade negotiations wanes.