Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi explains the aims of “Power Asia” during a video conference with Asian leaders, including South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, in April this year. Japan Prime Minister’s Office
The Japanese government plans to visit oil storage facilities in four countries—the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand—this summer to survey their reserve capacity, aging conditions and potential for expansion. This is part of the “Power Asia” project announced in April by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Through Power Asia, the Japanese government has pledged $10 billion (about 15.6 trillion won) in financial support to member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) facing energy supply difficulties.
According to diplomatic circles on Sunday, while Australia draws attention as a model for middle-power diplomacy, Japan is also renowned for diplomatic prowess that swiftly secures gains. In just the past 20 years or so, the Quad and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) emerged from Japanese initiatives, and Prime Minister Takaichi, who took office last year, is building a close energy cooperation framework with ASEAN nations through Power Asia. In the process of cooperating toward highly practical goals, Japan is expected to naturally raise ASEAN’s trust in Japan while checking China’s influence. At the Korea-Japan summit held in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, in May this year, Prime Minister Takaichi also requested President Lee Jae-myung’s participation in Power Asia.
Going further back, the Quad is also Japan’s creation. The Quad, a security consultative body of the United States, India, Australia and Japan, began as a ministerial-level body in 2007 based on the vision of the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to check China in the Indo-Pacific region, and was elevated to a summit-level body in 2021. Japan, which keenly captured the interests of neighboring countries sensitive to China’s influence, last year also proposed a “One Theater” concept to the United States.
In addition, Japan took the helm in place of the United States, which withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and launched the CPTPP in 2018. Including the United Kingdom, which became the first European country to join in December 2024, the current membership totals 12 countries. Korea is also considering joining the CPTPP, but as a latecomer to an already established system, it is highly likely to accept somewhat unfavorable conditions such as agricultural and fishery imports. On the diplomatic and security board that Japan has constructed while constantly keeping pace with changes in the international order, Korea remains a latecomer.
Experts explain that Japan’s diplomatic capability “cannot but be fundamentally different from Korea’s.” Japan’s period as a modern state (based on the 1868 Meiji Restoration) is alone twice that of Korea, and it once commanded the world stage as an empire and the world’s second-largest economy. The Japanese Foreign Ministry’s personnel (in the 6,000s) and annual budget (817 billion yen as of 2026, about 7.7 trillion won) are also double those of Korea’s Foreign Ministry. Cho Yang-hyun, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy who also serves as president of the Contemporary Japanese Studies Association, cited these differences and explained, “Japan is accustomed to a mindset of always capturing not only its own interests but also what is needed in the international community.”
Korea, too, cannot remain backstage forever. Within the country, voices are growing that Korea must transform from “diplomacy that first reads others’ faces” into proactive diplomacy and agenda-setting diplomacy. Cho noted, “In ASEAN, the Global South and Africa, without exception, Japan went first and Korea followed,” and pointed out, “Korea may be able to participate in Power Asia, but it should have a critical awareness of whether Korea could not have devised such a concept first.” Lim Sung-nam, a Pacific adviser who served as first vice minister of foreign affairs, added, “Both the global and domestic environments have changed, and it is a time when grand discourse is needed to match them,” and “It may already be late, but we must discuss measures to stay ahead of change.”
Korea already possesses weapons in the form of industry and technology, such as semiconductors, nuclear power, shipbuilding and the defense industry. One veteran diplomat explained, “Like Australia’s natural resources, Korea’s weapon is its industry,” adding, “For example, Korea Zinc is already smelting Australia’s lithium, and a supply chain is being established.” Korea’s shipbuilding industry has gone beyond Korea-U.S. economic cooperation to become a pillar strengthening the Korea-U.S. alliance, and K-defense is spreading Korea’s influence to the other side of the globe.
In this process, cooperation with like-minded countries and middle powers is essential. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in January this year, stressed the need to seek alternatives to the order created by great powers, saying, “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” In the Global South as well, voices seeking out Korea are growing. Dino Patti Djalal, chairman of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), an Indonesian diplomatic think tank whom this reporter met recently in Seoul, urged Korea to pursue active middle-power diplomacy. Djalal, who has served as Indonesian ambassador to the United States and Indonesian vice minister of foreign affairs, stressed, “Unlike in the past, the some 20 middle powers, including Korea and Indonesia, already have sufficient capabilities in terms of economic, political, military and technological strength,” and “It is time for middle powers to gather and contemplate a new order.” While the Korea-U.S. alliance and Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation are the mainstays of Korean diplomacy, opportunities where the interests of countries pursuing diversification align with Korea’s national interests are expected to continue to increase.