Abstract
Northeast Asia's potential for growth and development has always far exceeded its performance. Recent changes in the former Soviet Union together with sustained economic growth in Japan and South Korea suggest that Northeast Asia's economic role at a global scale will change substantially. The Tumen River Project illustrates both the opportunities available in Northeast Asia and the economic, historical, and political issues that are associated with development here. This paper examines the challenges faced by the region as it looks to its roles as an integrated industrial region and as a supplier of raw materials and manufactured goods to markets around the Sea of Japan and elsewhere.
