‘대동아공영권’ 구상은 면밀한 계획에 의해 수립된 것이 아니라 제2차 세계대전 발발이라는 세계정세의 변화에 맞추어 급조된 측면이 강했기 때문에 그 범위가 애매해고 불분명할 뿐 아니라 내용도 유동적이었다. 진주만 기습 이후 서전에서 눈부신 승리를 거뒀던 초기의 ‘대동아공영권’ 구상은 점령지의 자원확보와 치안유지를 우선과제로 설정하고 일본의 지도적 지위를 전면에 내세웠다. 하지만 이후 전황이 악화되고 1943년 가을부터 연합국의 본격적인 반격이 예상되자 점령지의 자발적인 전쟁협력을 이끌어내고자 ‘대동아공영권’의 수정이 시도된다. 외무성을 중심으로 ‘대동아동맹’이라는 국제기구를 설치하고 그 부속기관으로 ‘대동아중재재판소’, ‘대동아경찰군’, ‘대동아청산은행’을 설치할 것을 주장하는 전후 지역질서 구상이 전개되었지만, 현실정치에서는 받아들여지지 않았다. 대신에 초기 ‘대동아공영권’의 패권주의적 색채를 ‘자주독립’, ‘평화호혜’라는 슬로건을 통해 분식시키면서 ‘대동아공영권’에 대한 동의를 조달하려는 대동아회의가 개최되었지만 오히려 참가국 선정문제 등이 불거져 나오면서 ‘대동아공영권’의 내부모순을 증폭시켰다. 한편 ‘대동아공영권’ 내에서 지도국(‘내지’)이면서 실질적으로는 식민지(‘외지’)였던 조선은 ‘대동아공영권’의 내부 모순을 한층 증폭시켰다. ‘공존공영’, ‘자주독립’, ‘평화호혜’라고 하는 ‘대동아공영권’의 슬로건이 강조되면 될수록 제국질서의 파열음은 커져만 갔다. 일본이 구미제국주의를 비판하면서 ‘대서양헌장’을 대신할 수정된 ‘대동아공영권’을 내걸었지만, 점령지 민족들은 오히려 제2의 조선, 제2의 만주국이 되지 않을까 우려하지 않을 수 없었다. 반면에 ‘도조성명’, ‘대동아선언’, ‘고이소성명’은 오히려 조선인의 민족의식, 독립의식을 자극해 ‘대동아공영권’의 균열・갈등을 증폭시켜 ‘대동아공영권’을 ‘內破’시키는 결과를 초래했다. 조선은 ‘대동아공영권’이 내건 ‘공존공영’, ‘자주독립’, ‘평화호혜’를 무기로 ‘대동아공영권’으로부터의 이탈, 독립을 주장했다. 일본이 내건 구호가 부메랑으로 돌아왔던 것이다. 이처럼 ‘대동아공영권’이라는 일본의 지역질서 재편은 일본 제국질서의 심각한 균열을 초래했고, ‘카이로회담’, ‘테헤란회담’으로 대표되는 국제질서 재편 속에서 제국질서의 균열을 봉합하는 미봉책으로서 정치적 처우개선이 패전 직전에야 비로소 고려되었던 것이다.
As the idea of 'the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ had not been established according to a detailed plan, but rather improvised in haste in order to keep up with the change in the world, the outbreak of the Second World War, its range was vague and unclear and its contents were flexible. The early idea of ‘the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’, which led to a remarkable victory at the beginning of war since the ambush at Pearl Harbor, set securing of resources and maintenance of public order in the conquered territories as prior tasks and brought Japan's position as a leader to the forefront. However, as the war progressed to its disadvantage and it was expected since the autumn of 1943 for the allied powers to counterattack in a full scale, the correction of ‘the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ was tried in order to induce the conquered territories to spontaneously cooperate in the war. The idea about post-war local order was developed, which argued the foundation of an international organization called 'the Greater East Asia Alliance' centered around the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and 'the Greater East Asia Court of Arbitration', 'the Greater East Asia Constabulary Force', and 'the Greater East Asia Clearing Bank' as its affiliated organs, but it was not accepted in the real politics. Instead, while the imperialistic undertone of the early ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ was beautified through slogans, such as ‘autonomous independence’ and ‘peaceful reciprocity’, the Greater East Asia Council was held to get agreement to ‘the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’, but on the contrary, the problem of selecting participating nations and others became an issue, and the internal contradictions of ‘the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ became intensified. On the other hand, Joseon, a leader nation('an inside nation') in 'the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ and substantially a colony(‘an outside nation’), amplified the internal contradictions of ‘the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ more. The more the slogans of ‘the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’, for instance, ‘coexistence and co- prosperity’, ‘autonomous independence’, and ‘peaceful reciprocity', were emphasized, the bigger the conflicts in the imperial order got. Japan supported the modified ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ to replace 'Atlantic Charter' while criticizing imperialism of the U.S.A. and Europe, yet, on the contrary, people of the conquered territories had no choice but worrying about becoming another Joseon or another Manchuria. On the other hand, ‘Tōjō Statement’, ‘the Greater East Asia Proclamation’, and ‘Koiso Statement’ rather stimulated Joseon people's national awareness and consciousness of independence, intensified cracks and conflicts in 'the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’, and resulted in the ‘internal collapse(內破)’ of 'the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.’ Joseon argued breakaway and independence from ‘the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ with 'coexistence and co-prosperity', 'autonomous independence' and 'peaceful reciprocity' proclaimed by ‘the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ as weapons. The slogans of Japan returned as a boomerang. In this way, the reorganization of the local order by Japan, that is, ‘the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’, brought about severe cracks in the imperial order of Japan, and only right before their defeat in the war, it was at last considered again to improve its political conditions as a temporary remedy to seal the rupture in the imperial order during the reorganization of international order, which was represented by 'Cairo Conference' and 'Teheran Conference'.