New East Asian Sphere of Co-Prosperity

The New East Asian Sphere of Co-Prosperity, or the Atarashī Higashiajia kyōei-ken in Japanese, the saeloun beon-yeong-ui gongdong beon-yeong in Korean and the Xīn dōng yǎ gòng róng quān in Mandarin is an alliance between the nations of Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

## Warming of Japanese-Korean Relations

The 22nd October 2021 saw the reelection of the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan. This party remained in power during the impact of The Big One in 2031. Following the resulting economic boom of the West as a result of this impact, much of the world, Japan included, was left crippled by the immediate upset in global trade. Korea, a staunch trading partner of the Western Federation by this time, shared this economic surge, while Japan was left mostly excluded, ironically due to a series of sanctions placed on South Korea in 2019 by Japan. This ultimately led to Japan being mostly isolated from a trading perspective.

The Liberal Democratic Party, the ruling party of Japan at this time, failed to cope with sudden collapse in global trade, and poverty soared. Many Japanese citizens were unhappy with the current ruling party, and many political parties emerged, or were adapted from existing parties, to deal with this.

The election of 2033 saw the power shift from the Liberal Democratic Party to the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in a defeat not seen since the 2012 landslide loss of the Democratic Party. The new Prime Minister, Yukio Edano, was notable for many reasons, such as beginning to replace the various nuclear power plants of Japan with renewable energy plants, lessening sanctions on Korea and the Western Federation and refusing to visit the Yasukuni Shrine. The following year, unrestricted trade with Korea resumed - a first in almost fifteen years. The economy of Japan gradually recovered to pre-impact levels, and even began surpassing it after selling excess power from their extensive tidal plants to nearby nations, South Korea included.

Yukio Edano stepped down as party leader in 2042 due to old age, and was succeeded by Renhō Murata. Under her rule, Japan offered tens of billions of yen as reparations to Korea, stating that "while no amount of money can undo the grave injustices that Japan subjected Korea to in previous generations, we hope that this token can serve as the foundation of positive relations between our countries." These reparations were accepted, and hailed as a sign of positive progression in Japanese and South Korean relations by Korean president Chung Soon-sil.

Relations with South Korea and the Western Federation (up until this point their closest ally) soured in 2044, following the New Orleans Outbreak. Without any real evidence proving that "Kaechon Six" originated in North Korea, the Western Federation mounted an attack on North Korea, utilising entirely autonomous units for the first time and beginning the very short-lived Second Korean War. The war proved to be a disaster, with countless atrocities committed by Western Federation troops against both North and South Korean civilians. While nobody really knows exactly under what circumstances these weapons were used (or even by which side), low-yield nuclear weaponry was detonated, and Virus Bombs were released. This latter weapon was cited by the Western Federation as proof of North Korea's involvement with the New Orleans Outbreak . After a matter of days, North Korea was obliterated, the country fractured, and without even installing a provisional government, the Western Federation withdrew - leaving South Korea to deal with the millions of refugees.

While the Western Federation failed to assist, Japan pledged not only to contribute their own military to assist in processing the refugees, but also to pledged an additional several billion yen to Korea to care for and house them.

The following year, President Chung Soon-sil and Prime Minister Renhō Murata announced the opening of the Prosperity Park (Han'ei kōen / beon-yeong gong-won), a large nature reserve located on the Liancourt Rocks, a loction which has extensive historical significance to the two nations. Gradually, public opinions of each of the nations improved amongst the citizens of the other, and a strong alliance was formed.