Trilateral Retreats: Toward New Regional Relations in Northeast
Asia
The Trilateral Retreats: Toward New Regional Relations in
Northeast Asia consisted of five three-day workshops designed
to foster understanding and build cooperative relationships among
a core group of emerging opinion makers and leaders from Japan,
Korea and China. The program, co-sponsored by the Mansfield Foundation,
Pacific Forum CSIS and the Asia Foundation, aimed to initiate
meaningful progress in an area where historical legacies have
long hampered bilateral and regional relations. The Retreats
received funding from Asia Foundation; Sasakawa Peace Foundation,
USA; Sasakawa Peace Foundation; Korea Foundation; Henry Luce
Foundation; and Ford Foundation.
Participants included six representatives from each nation, between
35 and 45 years old and serving in positions of influence in their
societies: legislators, journalists, social scientists, business
leaders, writers and artists, and civil society leaders. Organizers
from the program’s co-sponsors served as facilitators but
otherwise took a supporting role in the sessions. The discussions
were supplemented by a half-day group activity intended to encourage
networking and relationship building among the participants.
