THE night before he was elected as South Korea’s next President, Roh Moo Hyun stood before a cheering crowd in the centre of Seoul, and described a vision. “North-east Asia will be the centre of the world,” he told his audience. “It will be the centre of the world economy, and we will stand at its heart. America has New York, Europe has London, and Asia will have Seoul.

“Economically and politically, we can make our dreams come true. Do you believe me?” And the crowd, most of them in their twenties and thirties, roared: “Yes!” It is easy to smile at Mr Roh’s grandiose ambitions, but they reflect a profound conviction: that, despite their painful history and their divided peninsula, Koreans are a people destined for greatness. One day they will reunite their country, expand their economy and achieve their destiny; not as dependent allies of the United States but as proud and independent Asians.

Mr Roh is not the first South Korean President to have articulated such ambitions, but he is the first to combine them with such open scepticism towards America.

His election is the latest in a series of subtle shifts to have occurred in east Asia in the past year which hint at far greater changes in the future.

Northeast Asia, formerly a region of static security arrangements, is showing signs of movement.

Although the end of the Cold War defused the region's greatest threat, a Soviet invasion of Japan, the US still maintains 100,000 soldiers, sailors and marines in Japan and South Korea. Japan continues to maintain a security doctrine which is strictly defensive, with constitutional controls on military operations overseas. Cold War confrontation has been replaced by a vague Pax Americana designed to combat not a particular foe but an abstract concept: insecurity. Since September 11, particular threats have come more clearly into focus and brought striking changes. International terrorism is one threat; more recently, North Korea’s announcement that it will resume its suspected nuclear weapons programme has cast a shadow of insecurity over the entire region.

China, once seen as a rival, is now an ally of America, both in the campaign against terrorism and the effort to neutralise North Korea. A series of diplomatic disasters led to a chilly few years in Sino-US relations.

There was the Nato bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. Then there was the collision between a Chinese fighter and a US spy plane, which was humiliatingly forced to land on Chinese soil.

But China, which has restive Muslims of its own, has proved co-operative in the campaign against terrorism and the relationship has warmed.

Japan’s Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has employed the country’s euphemistically named Self-Defence Forces in ways that were unthinkable a few years ago. During the Gulf War, to the disgust of America, Japan’s only contribution was a cheque, although it was a cheque for a billion dollars.

Japan sent naval ships to the Arabian Sea to give logistical support during the war in Afghanistan; last week they were supplemented by an Aegis-class destroyer. The day when Japanese warships ply the oceans openly is years off, but the thought of a resurgent Japan causes great nervousness among its former wartime vassals, China and Korea.

Into the middle of these intriguing changes steps Mr Roh. His pointed remark about the need for “equality” in the relationship between the US and South Korea was in part clever electioneering, but there is no doubt that he is genuinely dissatisfied with the status quo.

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