As compared to the success of the European Union in fashioning a European identity, East Asian community building has proved frustratingly elusive for regional organizers.

In anticipation of the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC 2015) late next year, advocates for a regional identity for “East Asia” are redoubling their efforts.

In one such endeavor, the Seoul-based Asia-Pacific Center of Education for International Understanding led an intercultural dialogue exploring shared histories during a conference on Monday and Tuesday in Bangkok, Thailand.

“We have already witnessed that there is a great need to understand the social, cultural and political specificities of the diverse groups, cultures and societies that comprise Southeast Asia, especially with the inauguration of the ASEAN Community in 2015,” said Chung Utak, director of the APCEIU.

A United Nations-affiliated group, the APCEIU was established in Seoul in 2000 to promote international understanding and peace through education in the Asia-Pacific region.

Last week’s conference in Bangkok was the second annual meeting of this kind. Indicating both the importance and difficulties of organizing such meetings on “shared histories,” however, Chinese and Japanese representatives have declined to participate for the last two years, said an organizer from APCEIU.

“Encouraging and developing the values necessary for living together in the 21st century among members of the younger generation should be made a priority, as education is the key to building mutual understanding and acceptance,” Chung said in his opening remarks in Bangkok, adding that the need to develop quality educational resources to accelerate the teaching of shared histories is clearer now than ever before.

(ephilip2014@heraldcorp.com)