Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/81800

KEYWORDS : East Asia;Global pandemic;COVID-19;mistrust;empathy;reconciliation

The year 2020 kicked off like a b-rated horror movie.a global outbreak of an unknown virus that causes severe respiratory disease and death of those in the vulnerable category, no cure and vaccine available, and spreads through human contact. While all regions demonstrated their strengths in establishing and implementing measures to contain the virus in their respective countries, it has also clearly highlighted the weakness in this region: the lack of cooperation. Experts have indicated that the reason for the lack of cooperation seen during the outbreak of coronavirus is due to the deterioration of relations among the East Asian countries. Prof. Okonogi at Keio University states that, “It seems that the respective governments find it difficult to talk about mutual support and cooperation due to the possible negative reaction from its people, even though there is a framework to cooperate on public health issues.” What the coronavirus global pandemic has revealed about East Asia is the passiveness or even the unwillingness to cooperate even in the face of a global public health emergency. This article will put forth the idea of the politics of mistrust as the root cause of the bottleneck among East Asia countries, namely Japan and Korea. Moreover, it will examine the internal and external factors that lead to the mistrust, and attempt to explore ways in which Japan and Korea can “build” trust from bottom up, through reconciliation and empathy.