Sino-South Korean Feud Intensifies: Beijing Summons South Korean Ambassador Over Diplomatic Friction

On August 24, 1992, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea officially established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, ending the long history of mutual non-recognition and mutual isolation between the two countries. The picture shows South Korean Foreign Minister Lee Sang-ok (front left) and Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen signing and exchanging a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations in Beijing. The day before, South Korea announced the severance of diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, making Taiwan lose its last diplomatic relationship with Asia.

In September 1992, then South Korean President Roh Tae-woo (1995 file photo) visited China a few weeks after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. He met with Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, State President Yang Shangkun, Premier Li Peng and others. The two sides signed a series of cooperation agreements such as the China-Korea Trade Agreement and the China-Korea Investment Protection Agreement.

From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, during the tenure of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, China-South Korea relations were elevated to a “comprehensive cooperative partnership for the 21st century.” In May 2008, when then South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited China, the relationship between the two countries was once again upgraded to a “strategic partnership”. The photo shows Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao being welcomed by Lee Myung-bak during his visit to South Korea in May 2010.

Since the end of the last century, business, cultural and personnel exchanges between South Korea and China have become increasingly close. According to the data in 2021, there are more than 50,000 Korean students studying in China, and more than 20,000 Chinese students studying in South Korea, and each ranks first in the number of foreign students studying in the other country. China has become a popular choice for South Korean companies to invest. Korean pop culture has a large following in China. South Korea was also once a popular tourist destination for Chinese people. The picture shows Chinese tourists in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul (2014).

Park Geun-hye (pictured: attending the G20 summit in Hangzhou in 2016) also visited Beijing many times during her tenure as South Korean president. Xi Jinping also visited South Korea in 2014. The relationship between China and South Korea is considered to have entered a “honeymoon period”. contacts have become closer.

In view of the security threat posed to South Korea by North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons capabilities, in 2016, the South Korean government decided to deploy the US THAAD anti-missile system. Because its radar has the potential ability to detect the Chinese side, it is considered by China to have an impact on its homeland security. After the objection was invalid, Beijing took a number of countermeasures against South Korea, including banning performances by South Korean media and artists, and travel blockade. These measures also led to a rapid cooling of Sino-South Korean relations.

Since the land where the THAAD system was deployed was exchanged from the Seoul government to the South Korean Lotte Group, the retail giant has become the target of Chinese official and private retaliation. For a while, consumers boycotted Lotte, demonstrated and protested, and even suppliers cut off supply. Dozens of Lotte supermarkets were “ordered to close down.” In addition, sales of South Korean brands such as Samsung mobile phones and Kia Motors also plummeted. Chinese travel agencies have removed Korean tours from the shelves one after another, which has impacted the Korean tourism industry.

In November 2017, China and South Korea reached a consensus. The South Korean side stated that it would not consider adding a new THAAD system; impose necessary restrictions on the use of the existing THAAD system; not join the US anti-missile system; Military alliances and unintentional damage to China’s security interests. After then-President Moon Jae-in visited China in 2017, relations between the two countries began to ease.

China is South Korea’s largest trading partner, export market and source of imports, while South Korea is China’s third largest trading partner. Among South Korea’s largest single source of income, semiconductor exports, exports to China account for more than 40%. According to a questionnaire survey conducted by South Korea’s “Joongang Daily” in August 2022, 19.3% of the respondents believed that China’s rise was an “opportunity”, while 75.4% of the respondents believed that it was a “threat”. The picture shows South Korean people protesting against the Moon Jae-in government’s friendly policy with North Korea unfurling anti-China slogans (Seoul, April 2018).

The current South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue (right) has shown a more active approach to the United States after taking office in May 2022, saying that he will accelerate the deployment and construction of the THAAD system. South Korea officially joined the “Indo-Pacific Economic Framework” (IPEF) led by the United States in May 2022, and announced in August that it would join the “Quadruple Chip Alliance” led by the United States, including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Including technology export controls to China.

There are indications that South Korea is trying to reduce its economic dependence on China. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea in 2022, Sun Xingjie, deputy director of the Institute of International Relations of Jilin University, wrote in “Ming Pao” that China and South Korea need to expand cooperation areas and communicate and coordinate on security issues. plate”. The picture shows the THAAD missile defense system deployed in Xingzhou County, South Korea (September 2017 data map).