By Michael Garson
During the “Asia” round at most major tournaments, extempers will be eagerly preparing their analysis of China’s rural poor or how the United States can limit Chinese economic power. Fifteen minutes the prepared extempers will have to do nothing but chuckle as they hear, “Who the hell is Yasuo Fukuda?” Contrary to popular belief, East Asia extends beyond Chinese borders. Indeed, the world’s second biggest economy and the world’s second biggest surreptitious nuclear program provide more than enough fodder for question writers. It is very important to maintain focus on the Korean peninsula and Japan throughout the year. North Korea and Japan occasionally hit the headlines with the latest news of a missile attack or bank collapse. However, these countries never fully disappear. Filing these countries regularly may be difficult, but not impossible. As “second-tier” issues, many IXers will ignore them. However, those who want to be well-rounded extempers that can handle any question on any topic already have at least a basic analysis of the region. Therefore, this brief hopefully will provide the foundation to a deeper understanding of Japan and the Korean peninsula. Specifically, Japan’s near future under Mr. Fukuda and North Korea’s short-term and long-term destiny with itself and the world are of particular interest.