South Korea-China relations
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
South Korea-China relations refers to the international relations between People's Republic of China and Korea Republic.
For a long time in modern history, espcially before the 1980s. there were no official relations between People's Republic of China and South Korea. The absence of any such relations, along with Beijing's closeness to P'yongyang, hindered trade between Seoul and Beijing, because South Korea was unable to protect its citizens and business interests in China without some form of international agreements. Beijing's economic needs involving South Korea were initially ecclipsed by that of Moscow. However, because of secondary economic needs and geographic proximity, South Korea and China began active trade nonetheless.
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[edit] Relations under Park and Chun (1961-1988)
Junta leader Park Chung Hee initiated and General Chun Doo Hwan advanced a policy of establishing relations with China and the Soviet Union, and attempting to improve those with North Korea. China and the USSR had significant sway in determing the future of the Korean Peninsula. Good relations with old allies of North Korea were therefore integral to the Nordpolitik policy.
Seoul's official contact with Beijing started by the landing of a hijacked Chinese civilian airliner in May 1983. China sent a delegation of thirty-three officials to Seoul to negotiate irs return. This marked the beginning of a series of casual exchanges of citizens. For example, in March 1984, a South Korean tennis team visited Kunming for a Davis Cup match with a Chinese team. In April 1984, a thirty-four-member Chinese basketball team arrived in Seoul to participate in the Eighth Asian Junior Basketball Championships. Some Chinese officials reportedly paid quiet visits to South Korea to inspect its industries, while South Korean officials visited China to attend a range of international conferences. Since China and South Korea began indirect trade in 1975, the trade volume has steadily increased.
[edit] Late 1980s
Active South Korean-Chinese individual contacts have been encouraged. Academics, journalists, and particularly families divided between South Korea and China were able to exchange visits freely in the late 1980s. Nearly 2 million ethnic Koreans, especially in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in China's Jilin Province, have interacted with South Koreans.
However, significant barriers to strong trade and relations persisted. The absence of any protections granted by official relations had still remained. Beijing has been politically closer to P'yongyang, and relations with North Korea remained tense and distrustfull.
[edit] Present
It has been difficult for analyists to predict what effect the political turmoil in the People's Republic of China would have on Sino-Korean relations. After the military putdown on demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in June 1989, P'yongyang predictably came out in support of Beijing's actions. Seoul, on the other hand, did not condone or codemn the actions in Tiananmen Square. Trade between the two countries continued to increase nonetheless. Furthermore, China has attempted to mediate between North Korea and the United States and North Korea and Japan and also initiated and promoted tripartite talks--among P'yongyang, Seoul, and Washington.
