Great Korean Empire

Empire of East Asia (Japanese: 東アジアの帝国, Korean: 동아시아의 제국, Hawaiian: ヒキナ’ アーキナ) also more commonly known as East Asia is a constitutional monarchy located in the East of Asia and the Pacific Ocean. East Asia borders the Russian Federation to the north, and the People's Republic of China to the West. A country in its own right, East Asia consists of three semi-autonomous countries, Korea, Japan and Hawaii and one territory, the South Pacific Territories. East Asia is a unitary state, with a central government based in its capital and largest city, Tokyo, which has devolved powers to the two subnational governments.

East Asia can trace its history back to the early 20th century, the Empire of Japan controlled vast swaves of ast Asia. Following the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Postdam Declaration was signed in 1945 which defined the terms of Japanese surrender, the Allies agreed not to occupy core Japanese territory, if it agreed to reforms transforming the state into a democratic society. Several months of negotiations and compromises followed until the East Asian Agreement was signed on the 2nd January 1946, which officially established the Empire of East Asia in its current form. The United Nations passed a motion recognising it as the only legal government of the territory in February. The constitution of East Aisa was later ratified in April of 1946, which retained the Japanese monarchy, and established a unitary state with a parliamentary government that devolved powers to three subnational governments.

East Asia is a bilingual state, with both Korean and Japanese having official language status at a national level. Both languages are taught in schools from an early age, and most citizens are fluent in both languages. Japanese is generally treated as the language of government however, and most official business is conducted and written in the language. Additionally, Hawaiian and Palauan are recognised languages, however not at a national level and are spoken by a large percentage of the population in Hawaii and the South Pacific. Korea and Japan have both retained their own respective cultures, however have also fused to create a national identity for East Asia. Hawaiian culture has also been allowed to flourish.

East Asia experienced rapid economic growth during the 20th century, and quickly became the world's second largest economy until it was overtaken by China in the end of the 1980's. Still a major economic great power, East Asia is a highly developed country and has the world's third largest economy. It is also the world's third largest exporter and fourth largest importer. Although East Asia has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military used for self-defence and humanitarian roles. The East Asian population enjoy the highest life expectancy in the world, and the state ranks second in Asia for Human Development Index. The rise of China in recent decades has threatened East Asian dominance in the region, with the Financial Crisis of 2008 briefly disrupting the continuous growth of East Asia, however as new anti-royalist groups and Korean independance movements grow, East Asia has begun to focus more inwardly on policy.

East Asia Agreement
Following the signing of the Intrument of Japanese Surrender and the Potsdam Declaration, the allies agreed not to occupy core Imperial Japanese territory, and instead oversaw the transition of Japan into a modern democratic society, something which the people of both Korea and Japan were much in favour of. Initially, the plan was the decolonise Korea, and to grant it independance, however several large groups on both sides favoured East Asian unity, and that the two states would fare better together, while there was some opposition to this, it was generally accepted as the better proposition by both provisional governments aswell as the Allied powers. Several months of compromise and debate led to the signing of the East Asian Agreement between Japan and Korea, aswell as Hawaii on the 2nd of January 1946. It established the compromises on both a unitary government, but one which devolved powers between subnational governments, whilst also retaning the Japanese Monarchy. The Pacific Island territories of Japan were ceded back to East Asia from US trusteeship in February and became a Territory of Japan.

Park Wong-Yo was named Interim President of East Asia on the 5th of January, while it remained without an officially established legislature or executive bodies, with the Asian Unionist Party holding the majority of power. While the next few months would be spent establishing the Constitution with the Constitutional Convention which would convene in Tokyo at the end of January. The Constitutional Convention, under order of the Provisional Government of East Asia, was to consist of 70 delegates from Japan, Korea and Hawaii.

Constitution
The Constitutional Convention began on the 30th of January 1946 in Tokyo. It lasted until the 31st of March, and consisted of 70 delegates from Japan and Korea, aswell as 2 from the Pacific Island territories, all of whom were actually from Palau. The convention set out to establish a constitution for the Empire of East Asia, which elaborated on the East Asian Agreement which was signed at the start of January that year, which was functioning without ordered government at the time, with the Provsional governments of all three countries working together.

The main themes of the constitution were created a state of unity between former enemies for the betterment of both of their peoples, aswell as the preservation of peace. The East Asian administration wanted to make sure that the events of World War II would not happen again, enshrining in the constitution checks to increase the difficulty for an absolute power to take control of the government, aswell as officially renoucing the sovereign right to declare war.

The convention lasted for two months of debate until the final signing which took place on the 31st of March 1946 following the Final Draft of the Constitution of East Asia, which consisted of 20 Articles. It established East Asia as a constitutional monarchy, and a unitary parliamentary republic which devolved powers to three subnational governments of Japan, Korea and Hawaii, aswell as setting out the rights of the individual and the government.

Modern History
During the first years of East Asia it was governed by the initially right-wing Asian Unity Party, led by Park Wang-Yo. East Asia was staunchly neutral during the Cold War period, and generally ignored East-West foreign policies, whilst it did view both the United States and the Soviet Union as a threat to national security. Park Wang-Yo was later impeached by the National Diet for constitutional infringements and abuse of power, despite this, his party remained at the forefront of East Asian politics following this.

For much of the remainder of the twentieth-century East Asia was governed by the Asian Unity Party, a Centre-Right party which was a staunch supporter of unionism in East Asia, however the rise of much more left-wing and social democratic aswell as nationalist movements in the 1980's led to a significant drop in support for the Unity Party. The Korean Nationalist Party attracted a record number of votes in 1997 election. The party's success has brought the issues of Korean nationalism to the forefront of East Asian politics. Successive Respect Party governments in the 1990's and 2000's led to a more liberal and social democratic East Asia, which oversaw the legalisation of civil unions in 2009, aswell as steering East Asia out of the 2008 Financial Crisis. In January 2010 Respect Party Prime Minister Park Sook-Wan was elected, and represented the largest landslide election in East Asian history.

In 2011 a Magnitude 9.0 struck off the coast of Sendai Prefecture, in the Tohuku region of Japan, triggering a devastating tsunami. Over 12,000 people were killed, and significant damage was caused to a nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, causing dangerous environmental hazards. Aid was sent from many nations around the world. It has been heralded as one of the most deadly natural disasters in East Asian history.

Geography
East Asia is a non-continguous country located in the North East Asian continent and stretching across the Pacific Ocean, bordering the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China to the North, and the Pacific Ocean to the West and South. The country consists of the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese Archipelago which are separated by the Sea of Japan, aswell as the Hawaiian Islands and the majority of Micronesia.

East Asia has a high population density due both to its mountanious landscapes on small volcanic islands and rapid population increases during the 20th century. As of 2014, East Asia has a total population of 128.3 million.

Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire at the boundary between the North American, Pacific and Eurasian Plates, East Asia frequently experiences strong earthquakes, and volcanic activity. Japan and Hawaii are significantly vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis, having the highest natural disaster risk in the developed world, while Korea and other regions have significantly less threat from such disasters, while tropical Typhoons and Cyclones still pose a direct threat. Hawaii also has the world's most active volcano Kiluena, and Mauna Loa, the world's largest subaerial volcano. East Asia has a significant threat from volcanic eruptions all the way across the country, however the threat is most concentrated in Japan and Hawaii, which contain the highest concentration of volcanoes in the developed world.

Environment
While the government of East Asia is currently committed to protection of the environment and energy conservation, in reality it is one of the world's highest polluters in terms of Carbon Dioxide. Since the 1990's twenty-five new solar farms have opened in various locations across East Asia, aswell as ten new wind farms. East Asia also has an extensive network of zero-emission Nuclear Fission reactors, however their safety has been brought into question since the 2011 Sendai Tsunami. The government has placed caps on Carbon Emissions, and since the 1997 Kyoto Protocol East Asia has significantly reduced its output of CO2 and increased the use of renewable energies.

Monarchy
See Main; Monarchy of East Asia

Government
See Main: Government of East Asia

The government of East Asia functions in the form of a Unitary Parliamentary Democracy divided between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches. The Constitution of East Asia lays out the current form of governance and laws in East Asia from 1946. The constitution of East Asia is codified and entrenched. The government's branches consist of the;
 * Executive Branch; Prime Minister, Cabinet
 * Legislative Branch; National Diet (House of Councillors House of Representatives)
 * Judicial Branch; Supreme Court

The Head of Government, is the Prime Minister (首相 Shusho, 총리 Chongli) who is appointed by the Emporer of East Asia after being designated by the Diet from among its members and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office. Together with the Cabinet, the Prime Minister makes up the Executive branch of government. The Prime Minister is the Head of Cabinet and can appoint and dismiss members of their cabinet. The Prime Minister must be the leader of the governing political party, however the National Diet as a whole have the power to impeach the Prime Minister during their term.

The bicameral National Diet of East Asia (国会 Kokkai, 국회 Gughoe)  holds legislative power in East Asia. Diet is considered to be sovereign, as it is the only branch of the government that is directly elected by the people and is the highest organ of state power. The constitution states that the National Diet is the sole law-making organ of the government, and in addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally responsible for selecting the Prime Minister. The Diet consists of two houses, the upper house the House of Councillors which consists of 100 appointed members and 100 elected members, and the elected lower house, the House of Representatives which consists of 650 elected members. Elections in the House of Representatives take place using a plurality system, which creates on clear winner, while elections for the House of Councillors take place using a proportional system which allocates seats by percentage of vote. The 50% appointed members of the House of Councillors are appointed by the Prime Minister. The constiuttion also states that the House of Representatives has higher authority than the upper house.

The party that wins the majority of seats in the lower house effectively wins the election, and is permitted to form a government by the Emporer. The party then selects the Prime Minister through a popular vote. The current governing party of East Asia is the Social Democratic Party. The second largest party in the lower house forms the Official Opposition, which is currently the Unionist Party. Other parties that have significant numbers of seats in the lower house include the Korean Nationalist Party.

Subnational Administrations
While East Asia is a Unitary state, it has three subnational administrations as codified in the constitution. The national government devolved equal levels of powers to the three administrations, and a different level of powers to the territorial administration of the South Pacific. The administatrations must allow the basic rights of the people, which are insured on a national level and enforced on a national level aswell.

Subnational administrations (国 Koku, 국가 Gugga) have power over areas including Healthcare, Education, Infrastrcture, Transport, Culture and Welfare, while financial, defence, and foreign powers are reserved by the national government. Each country can designate official languages and official writing systems. Japan, Hawaii and Korea's governments are lead by Governors (知事 chiji, 총재 chongjae), and are governed by unicameral legislatures.

Political Parties
See Main: Political Parties in East Asia

For much of the 20th century that Unionist Party dominated politics in East Asia, a centre-right party that staunchly supported East Asian unionism. However the rise of much more left-wing and social democratic ideologies aswell as nationalist movements in the 1980's led to a significant drop in support for the Unionist Party. The Liberal Party was in government for much of the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's. The Unionists briefly surged in support in the 2005 elections and won after shaking the party's former image of a 'nasty' party, however the Liberals won the election with Park Sook-Wan in 2010. Generally, it is argued that East Asia has a two-party system, between the centre-right Unionists and the centre-left Liberals as they represent the only two parties that could realistically form a government. However the rise of a third party, the Workers Party during the 1990's has led to the three-party system being generally accepted by political analysts in East Asia and foreign observers. The current governing party is the Liberal Party after the 2010 election victory with Prime Ministerial candidate Park Sook-Wan which had the largest electoral landslide in history, 65% of the electorate voting for the Liberals following the previous Unionist government which had serious public dissatisfaction ratings due to economic policies.

During the 1980's a surge in nationalist ideologies following the right-wing rule of the Unionist Party began to gather momentum, the largest and most significant being the Korean Nationalist Party which recieved a record number of votes for a third party in the 1997 general election. Other nationalist parties include the Hawaiian Nationalist Party and the Japanese Populist Party.

Foreign Relations
See Main: Foreign Relations of East Asia

East Asia is an active member of the international community, and major political and economic power both within and outside Asia. A long history of diplomacy with foreign nations has led the extensive network of foreign missions, embassies and agreements. East Asia is a member of the United Nations, the G8 Summit, Organisation for Co-Operation and Development, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the East Asia Summit. Nearly all foreign countries have permanent diplomatic missions and embassies in East Asia's capital, Tokyo, and consulates throughout the nation.

During the Cold War, East Asian foreign policy was not self-assertive, relatively focused on their economic growth. However, the end of the Cold War and bitter lessons from the Gulf War changed the policy slowly. The government decided to participate in the Peacekeeping operations by the UN, and sent their troops to Cambodia, Mozambique, Golan Heights and the East Timor in the 1990s and 2000s. After the September 11 attacks, Japanese naval vessels have been assigned to resupply duties in the Indian Ocean to the present date. Beyond its immediate neighbors, East Asia has pursued a more active foreign policy in recent years, recognizing the responsibility which accompanies its economic strength. East Asia is one of the highest net contributors of foreign aid, spending roughly $2.5 billion a year. Its main targets of foreign aid are Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, aswell as investment in Iraq and Colombia.

East Asia's foreign policy has been criticised in recently decades due to its anti-American and anti-interventionist stance. East Asia had formerly assisted in operations in Southern Iraq with returning basic infrastructure, however they have since been pulled out following the election of Prime Minister Park Sook-Wan. However East Asia has been part of the 'Coalition of the Willing' against ISIS providing logistical and communications support without direct participation in air strikes.

Language
At a national level East Asia is a bilingual state according the Constitution, and both Japanese and Korean have official status. Both languages are taught in schools all across East Asia from a young age, and just over 65% report an ability to speak both languages fluently. Additionally, Korean has official status in the State of Korea and Japanese has official status in the State of Japan. There has also been a push by the Hawaiian government for Hawaiian to be a national official language as it is spoken by a significant percentage of the population. Hawaiian has official status in the State of Hawaii where it is the native language of over 70% of the population. Additionally, there are numerous languages spoken by a small percentage of the population in the South Pacific, which includes Palauan, Micronesian, and Nauruan.

According to the 2014 census the percentage of native speakers of Japanese were 46%, Korean 45%, Hawaiian 1.27%, Palauan 0.35%, Chamorro 0.32%, Micronesian 0.24% and Nauruan 0.002% and Marshallese 0.001%. The census also showed that 52% of the population had the ability to speak English fluently. English is taught in schools from an early age.

Japanese is the most prevelant language in East Asia, it is treated as the language of government, and most official business is conducted in Japanese, it is generally recognised as the Lingua Franca. It also has the most native speakers in East Asia, with over 130 million native speakers as of 2014. Most goverment and economic business is undertaken in Japanese, however the Korean government has pushed for the greater use of Korean in these fields within Korea.

East Asia has several writing systems that have official recognition. Hangul is the officially recognised script used to write the Korean Language in East Asia. Kanji, Katakana and Hiragana are the three scripts used to write the Japanese Language in East. Katakana is also the official script used to write Hawaiian and Palauan in East Asia. The Latin Script is used to write several minor languages spoken in the South Pacific, which had been originally introduced by Christian missionaries during the 1700 and 1800's.

Population
279,346,291