In recent years, Japan's interest in Global South countries has become increasingly concrete. For instance, the Global South was discussed as one of the major themes at the G7 Summit held in Hiroshima in May 2023, and the Japanese government subsequently released a related "policy guideline" in June 2024. Given that Japan has long implemented ODA policy as its aid framework toward developing countries, this may not appear entirely new. Nevertheless, there is considerable need to examine the background, content, and strategy behind Japan's approach to these countries under the new terminology of the Global South. Above all, as suggested by the concept of "co-creation" put forward in the guideline, Japan appears to be considering this engagement as a means of overcoming its own sluggish growth and the instability of the international order. This warrants close attention from South Korea as well, given that South Korea is likely to face circumstances similar to those confronting Japan.

While still in its early stages, the Global South strategy being pursued by the Japanese government exhibits broadly three distinguishing characteristics. The first is that Japan is preparing a multilayered and comprehensive implementation framework to engage with the diverse array of Global South countries. The second is the prominence of the idea of overcoming both the crisis confronting the current international order and the limits to growth that Japan itself faces through cooperation with the Global South, that is, through "co-creation." The third is that as Japan's ODA policy is incorporated into its Global South strategy, it is undergoing a shift from government led to private sector led implementation.