Enemy, Homager or Equal Partner?

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Since the formal establishment of South Korea (hereafter, Korea)-the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, China) relations in 1992, the bilateral relationship has recorded tremendous success in terms of trade volume, cooperation on the North Korean nuclear crisis, and the magnitude of exchanges in various areas. However, it is also true that the bilateral relations still remain far from satisfaction in terms of depth and degree of communication, crisis management, and a shared vision. Given Korean’s psychological alertness and apprehension formed over a long history of contacts with China, differences in political system, mutual misperceptions, and degree of understanding, these problems cast serious challenges for future relations between the two countries. In the future, Korea-China relations could be sour and bumpy if the Korean government relies excessively on security-oriented approaches, centering on its alliance with the U.S.
Korea needs to exercise a “creative middle power-pragmatic diplomacy” in dealing with China. The objective is to establish a positive-sum game in the Korea-China strategic cooperative partnership, extending consultation and cooperation beyond security issues on the Korean Peninsula. Both the Korea-U.S. alliance and the Korea-China strategic cooperative partnership should be the foundation of Korea’s diplomatic assets, under which Korea would try to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.
The substance of Korea-China relations will be determined by the policies of each government to consolidate the “cooperative strategic partnership.” Sound communication, political will, and strategic management matter. The future relationship of Korea with China is at the crossroad among the ranges of being enemy, homager, or equal partner. Korea obviously favors the establishment of an equal partnership with China, based upon the common principles of mutual respect, cooperation, and co-prosperity.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 1. INTRODUCTION
• 2. AMBIVALENCE OF KOREA-CHINA RELATIONS
• 3. CHINA’S KOREA POLICY
• 4. KOREA’S CHINA POLICY OPTIONS
• 5. CONCLUSION
• REFERENCE