Despite the global post Cold War impact since the 1990s, the situation in Northeast Asia is unstable and seems recurrent of the past. The reason why Northeast Asia is still trapped in this conflict is because the balance of power has been destroyed. Under this situation, the Japanese right wing is again trying to seize hegemony in Northeast Asia. They stand in opposition to China as the US has done, and furthermore they are aiming at both military and economic hegemony in Northeast Asia. China is also working toward this seizure of Northeast Asian hegemony.
The Japanese right wing has taken the strategy of expanding the scope of history argument with Korea to the whole Northeast Asian region. Under the situation in which the Cold War order has been destroyed, the “problem of history” narrative is utilized as an excellent tool to unite the Japanese citizens. It is because the Japanese have to put an end to the “problem of history” regarding its colonization and participation in the Pacific War. China is also using its position as the G2 country. They emphasize patriotism and Sinocentrism within China while outcrying Northeast Asian peace to the world, but they never think of giving up their hegemony to the United States or Japan.
The nationalist conflict such as problems of history and territory within the Northeast Asian region has become worse. However, fortunately for the region, the civil societies of the three countries, South Korea, China, and Japan, are becoming closer. Also, there has been active communication and discussion of history at a nongovernmental level with a goal of finding out the real truth of the past. There is still hope of overcoming the nationalism and hegemonism that tries to bring us back to the Cold War conflict with an evil cause of “problem of history.”