Looming hope

The place that has the greatest potential for progress in Asia-Pacific diplomacy this year is the Korean Peninsula, experts said.

Park and her counterpart in Pyongyang, Kim Jong-un, have expressed a willingness to ease tensions between their countries and leave behind their differences, the experts added.

Kim Jong-un, after succeeding his late father, Kim Jong-il, at the end of 2011, has provided evidence that he has a softer side than his father.

The young leader has attended a concert featuring Disney characters, visited a kindergarten and a park with his wife and revived Kim Il-sung's former practice of addressing the nation on New Year's Day.

His speech on improving the poor country's economy and relations with the ROK has led to speculation that Pyongyang is planning to change direction in 2013.

But Evans J.R. Revere, senior director with the global strategy firm Albright Stonebridge Group, said in an article that Kim Jong-un's statements are merely the latest manifestation of his ability to "channel" his late grandfather, noting that he has adopted many of Kim Il-sung's mannerisms, style of dress, gregarious way of dealing with subordinates and even his haircut.

The consistency of Pyongyang's foreign policies was seen in the two rockets it launched in 2012, which were criticized by much of the international community.

Now, though, many countries are expecting to see a long-awaited breakthrough in talks over Pyongyang's nuclear program and the Korean Peninsula's stability. If so, it is unlikely that Pyongyang will come under further sanctions, as long as it ceases to conduct nuclear tests, Shi said.

The Six-Party Talks, which involved the six countries that saw leadership changes last year, began in 2003 but stalled in December 2008 amid frictions between Washington and Pyongyang.

Park stressed the importance of rebuilding trust between Seoul and Pyongyang, although she said her country must remain firm on certain issues.

Obama declared in November that the US would reach out to Pyongyang if it ended its nuclear weapons program.

John Kerry, Obama's nominee for US secretary of state, is expected to be softer on Pyongyang than his predecessor Hillary Clinton, according to the ROK newspaper The Hankyoreh.

Improved relations between China and the ROK may also help to ease tensions in the region, said Steve Tsang, professor of Contemporary Chinese Studies and director of the University of Nottingham's China policy institute.

China's approach

Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Peking University, said Beijing is faced with grim diplomatic prospects and needs to adopt flexible policies that can lessen the chances of getting into a conflict while still working to protect its legitimate interests.

Xi Jinping, the newly elected head of the Communist Party of China, has not elaborated exclusively on foreign policy during his first weeks in office.

But remarks he made during his first meeting with foreigners - a group of foreign experts - in December, have been widely perceived as sending a strong signal that China cherishes its ties with foreign countries and people, and will continue on its road of opening-up and cooperating with the outside world.

He also said countries should take the legitimate concerns of other countries into account when they pursue their own interests.

Speaking of the Diaoyu Islands dispute with Japan, for instance, Xi urged Japan in September to control its behavior and stop saying or doing things that could undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Kyodo News Agency said Xi's remarks about Japan suggest Beijing will not back down on the issue - at least for a while.

Rana Mitter, professor of the history and politics of modern China at Oxford University, said it is also important that the new leadership in China and Japan "remember the trade and economic links between the two, and keep relations calm through creative, non-confrontational diplomacy".