In his lecture, “Korean Unification and Northeast Asia,” ambassador Chun Yungwoo presented an argument regarding the triangular relationship between South Korea, Japan and China, the role of the United States in the pacific and the eventual reunification of the Korean peninsula. Ambassador Chun Yungwoo began his talk emphasizing on the current and historical relationships between the three principle powers of east Asia: Japan, China and South Korea. Ambassador Yungwoo started by saying that a century ago Japan was on the rise and China was declining but today China is on the rise towards hegemony in the region. Ambassador Yungwoo seemed fearful of an overly powerful Chinese state and made the claim that hegemony is the most violent of the international systems and that balance of power is necessary to sustain peace. However, if history can be used as a guide when their was a true balance of power in Europe in the early 1900’s it resulted in one of the most violent conflicts in human history and when there was extreme hegemony under the United States in today’s modern political system it is one of the most peaceful periods in human history. Ambassador Yungwoo then expanded his argument to the response of Japan to the expansion of Chinese power. Japan has increased American ties and expanded military alliances with the US to counter the expansion of Chinese power. He stated that while Korea has extremely strong economic ties with China they also have equally strong security ties with the United States by default Japan. Ambassador Yungwoo then transitioned his argument to that of reunification of Korea. Ambassador Yungwoo then transitioned his argument to that of reunification of Korea. Ambassador Yungwoo envisioned a reunited Korea as a “stimulus” package for all of East Asia as billions of dollars are poured into rebuilding the North Korean territory. However, he believed that the reunification would be rather peaceful and nearly completely discounted the possibility for a violent power transition. I would have preferred the ambassador discuss how reunification would occur instead of merely stating his perceived end states.