Recently, East Asia is witnessing the emergence of a new regional cooperation framework, namely, ASEAN+3. The ASEAN+3 framework is certainly taking root as the central mechanism for regional cooperation in East Asia. However, what it lacks is regional identity as a prerequisite to creating an environment conducive to closer regional unity and cooperation. Fostering a strong sense of East Asian identity and congeniality is essential for expediting genuine regional cooperation and, moreover, for helping reach the ultimate goal of East Asian integration. Yet, it is no easy task to develop a regional identity in a region like East Asia with huge diversities in its political, economic, social, and cultural characteristics, while disparities between Southeast and Northeast Asia are even more conspicuous. Nonetheless, regional identity is an evolving rather than a fixed concept, such that regional identity in East Asia has and is undergoing change. It is important to begin with a fresh review of East Asian history based on a maritime identity of the region, which offers a useful context for exploring the shared historical background. In order to create a new East Asian regional identity, the history of the region needs to be rewritten with a special attention to the various life experiences of the peoples of East Asia. In this regard, East Asian countries need to consider the creation of an "East Asian Forum for Regional Identity" in which historians and scholars from different countries can rewrite East Asian history through active exchanges their knowledge and insights.