Yongkoo Kim analyzes the diplomatic relationship between Korea and Japan during the period of the formation of modern nation-states in the nineteenth century. In doing so, three main issues are explored such as: the nature of the Korean-Japanese diplomatic relations institutionalized and stabilized for several hundred years as a peculiar international system, kyorin (dealing with the neighbor); this system"s connections to the broader China-centered international system of East Asia, sadae (serving the superior); and the specific diplomatic processes of the "clash" between the international order of East Asia (sadae-kyorin) and that of Western international law.