Over the past twenty years, functional economic integration has been progressing rather rapidly among the three major Northeast Asian countries. The share of intra-regional trade between China, Japan and Korea increased from 12.3 percent in 1990 to 22.5 percent in 2010. When Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are added, the share of intra-regional trade of Northeast Asia (CJK+HMT) amounted to 37.3 percent in 2010.
In addition, the efforts to institutionalize Northeast Asian economic cooperation have also been made by the three countries. At the ASEAN+3 Summit Meeting, which was held in Manila in November 1999, the leaders of China, Japan and Korea met for historic gathering, and the Trilateral Summit Meeting has taken place annually since. Then, in Fukuoka in December 2008, the first independent Trilateral Summit Meeting took place outside of the ASEAN+3 framework, and the independent Trilateral Summit Meeting has become an annual event.
Furthermore, although the three Northeast Asian countries signed on to the economic regionalism bandwagon belatedly, they have concluded many FTAs, respectively. Yet, there is still no FTA among them.
However, some progress recently has been made. On the basis of the recommendation proposed by the Trilateral Joint Research, which was set up following the agreement among three leaders at the Manila Summit in 1999, the leaders agreed to launch an Official Tripartite Joint Study for a China-Japan-Korea FTA at the Trilateral Summit Meeting in Beijing in October 2009. Seven meetings of the Joint Study Committee for a CJK FTA were held between May 2010 and December 2011, and the outcome of this Joint Study Committee is planned to be submitted to the leaders at the Trilateral Summit Meeting in 2012.
When it comes to institutional economic integration in the region, it began after the Asian financial crisis. Following the first ASEAN+3 Summit Meeting which was held in December 1997, the Summit Meetings as well as Ministerial and Senior Officials Meetings have taken place regularly, constituting a framework for regional economic cooperation among the ASEAN+3 countries. Additionally, the East Asia Summit Meeting was launched in 2005.
Functional economic integration has also been advancing smoothly in East Asia. Over the past twenty years, the share of intra-regional trade among ASEAN+3 countries rose from 28.6 percent to 39.7 percent. In 2010, the share of intra-regional trade among ASEAN+3+HMT, ASEAN+6, and ASEAN+6+HMT represented 51.9 percent, 45.1 percent and 56.2 percent, respectively, surpassing that of NAFTA (40.5 percent) and nearing the level of EU (56.3 percent).
Furthermore, many bilateral and plurilateral FTAs have been concluded among East Asian countries since the turn of the century. In particular, ASEAN concluded FTAs with China, Korea and Japan, respectively.
With the proliferation of FTAs among the East Asian countries, the interest in a region-wide FTA in East Asia has risen. In fact, the idea of an EAFTA (East Asia Free Trade Area) was first recommended by the East Asia Vision Group in October 2001 and it was also proposed as a mid and long term goal by the East Asia Study Group in November 2002. Then, EAFTA Study among the experts from ASEAN+3 countries and CEPEA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia) among the experts from ASEAN+6 countries were conducted, and on the basis of their recommendations, the four government - level working groups were established to prepare a region-wide FTA in East Asia. 
East Asia has already become the world’s factory. In the wake of the global financial crisis and the European fiscal crisis, given that the economic prospects for the United States and EU are remaining rather gloomy, East Asia is expected to be the engine of world economic growth. Moreover, if the rapid growth of East Asian economies continues, we may yet witness the start of East Asia era in the twenty first century.
This study proposes two criteria for the Era of East Asia; one is that the size of its economy should recover the level in 1820 (adjusted by the change in population), i.e., before its historic decline, and the other is that its average per capita income should attain the world’s average, and suggests it as a vision to be pursued by East Asian countries. 
To realize the era of East Asia, East Asia has to maintain its economic growth, enlarge internal markets and create a stable international political and security environment. And in order to satisfy all these conditions, we need a region-wide FTA in East Asia.
Given many FTAs among East Asian countries, including ASEAN+1 FTAs, the remaining missing links are among the three Northeast Asian countries. So, the most fundamental task to realize a region-wide FTA in East Asia is the formation of an FTA or FTAs between China, Japan and Korea.
This study highlights the fact that in order to realize the era of East Asia, a region-wide FTA in East Asia is needed, and that to achieve a region-wide FTA in East Asia, a CJK FTA is necessary. On the other hand, vision of realizing the East Asia era could be used as an additional stimulus to push forward the formation of a region-wide FTA in East Asia and CJK FTA.
Therefore, in order to realize the era of East Asia, China, Japan and Korea must strive to form a region-wide FTA in the mid and long term, and in the short term, they should focus on the formation of a CJK FTA.
The Korean government should also give priority to a CJK FTA over a Korea-China FTA or Korea-Japan FTA, and take the opportunity of the 2012 Trilateral Summit Meeting to launch the CJK FTA negotiations.  By choosing the trilateral FTA over the bilateral ones, the Korean government can show its will to assume an active role in improving relations in Northeast Asia.