Driven by a growing need for collaboration, Korea, China and Japan joined forces in 2011 in launching a permanent office here to support their summits and other key three-way dialogues, map out joint projects and conduct related research.

Despite skepticism about its feasibility due to territorial and historical tension, the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat has emerged as a core platform for networking and teamwork.

The three countries agreed to beef up the secretariat’s budget and their equal shares by 50 percent starting this fiscal year. Its 20-member workforce is forecast to expand to 30 by the end of this year, and about 100 in 10 years.

Behind the stellar growth is Shin Bong-kil, the agency’s inaugural secretary-general and Korea’s former ambassador to Jordan, who engineered the organization’s smooth kickoff from the ground up.

“Starting with a blank slate, we’ve set out an international organization and created the basic setup. Now seeing it grow into a central body between the three countries in such a short time, my efforts have paid off,” Shin told The Korea Herald in a recent interview.

“Paradoxically, the secretariat has seen its status soar in the face of tense trilateral relations. Its existence became more meaningful and the three governments have come to think of it as a hub platform for communications and networking.”

With expertise in Chinese and Japanese affairs, the 58-year-old career diplomat took the helm at the TCS in May 2011 upon the three nations’ agreement. He is aided by two deputy secretary-generals, one each from China and Japan, and a new Japanese chief is due to take over in August.

Since his foray into diplomatic services in 1978, Shin has served various key posts including ambassador for international economic cooperation, embassy minister and councilor in Beijing, and secretary in Tokyo and the U.N.

The secretariat is mainly tasked with facilitating and documenting summits, foreign ministers’ meetings and other major tripartite consultations. It also devises prospective joint programs and studies related issues, while building cooperation with other regional multilateral mechanisms.

Though the TCS remains a politically neutral institution, striking a balance between the three countries’ national interests, work approaches and cultures was a big challenge, Shin said. 

“There were numerous regional cooperative bodies all around the world but East Asia, despite its members’ importance in terms of their population, economic scale and political clout,” Shin said.

The lack was attributable to what President Park Geun-hye called an Asia paradox, referring to the region’s heightening territorial and historical tensions despite deepening economic interdependence.

Japan is at odds with Korea and China over sovereignty claims over the Dokdo islets in the East Sea and the Senkaku or Diayou islands in the East China Sea, respectively.

This year’s trilateral summit initially slated for late May was delayed on the back of escalating tension in the East China Sea and Japan’s drastic swing to the right.

Tokyo’s ties with Seoul and Beijing are seen tumbling further as nationalist Japanese officials continue to churn out revisionist remarks and worship at a controversial war shrine.

“It’s hard to control politicians’ comments anywhere in the world,” Shin said, while cautioning against “shallow nationalism.”

“The three countries’ leaderships, press and people need to approach to contentious issues like history with a more open-minded and future-oriented viewpoint.”

The TCS’ March hosting of the first-ever trilateral disaster-relief exercise is aimed at fostering cooperation primarily on softer, unconventional security areas including terrorism and climate change.

That was also in line with Park’s ambitious initiative designed to build trust and peace among regional partners by starting from nonpolitical concerns and extending later to security ones.

“Despite the three countries’ discord, the secretariat has significance as a communication channel and means to fill up East Asia’s organizational gap and systemize its cooperation,” Shin said.

For a more constructive partnership, the secretary-general is pinning high hopes on the youth.

The TCS holds an annual video competition each year in which Korean, Chinese and Japanese students team up and produce short clips outlining their own visions for the three countries’ future cooperation.

As with its Young Ambassador internship program, some 600 Chinese, 110 Korean and 20 Japanese youngsters vied for five spots allotted for each country.

“It’s not about competition of nationalities, but about cooperation as such projects allow the youth to interact with one another, share visions and develop them together,” he said.

“I have high hopes for future generations. It will take time but someday they may not have to grapple with the problems that their predecessors had with their neighbor countries.”

Despite the three countries’ strained ties, Shin remains optimistic about their long-term prospects, raising the possibility for “substantial political integration” over the next 60 years.

“When the European Union kicked off, the people there were very skeptical and had many conflicts in a postwar era,” Shin said, pointing to the memoirs of Jean Monnet, a late French political economist and chief architect of the European bloc, which were laid on the table in his office.

“We may not be able to achieve what the EU did, but we could make possible regular trilateral summits and ministerial talks, a free trade agreement and visa-free travel. In the end, it will all add up to a single formal unity.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)