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kim and cha • between a rock and a hard place
engagement with China. 2 In between these two opposing forces, South Korea
also faces a power dilemma with regard to China: smaller countries like South
Korea may feel threatened by the presence of a giant neighbor and thus opt
to “accommodate” that country. 3 In addition to these general trends, South
Korea finds itself caught striking the right balance between contrary impulses
within each of these four areas. For instance, although strong economic and
trade relations draw it closer to China through greater economic cooperation,
South Korea is also concerned about its growing economic dependence on
China. Overall, the interplay of conflicting and competing forces within, and
between, each of the four dilemmas shapes Seoul’s dual hedging and engaging
strategy and results in vacillating policies.
The Power Dilemma
South Korea’s power dilemma vis-à-vis China primarily stems from the
sheer presence of China as a great power and neighbor in Northeast Asia.
Although South Korea has always existed next to China, the latter has and
continues to exert significant influence on the Korean Peninsula, stemming
from thousands of years of historical relations that Koreans cannot ignore.
China is the world’s most populous country (estimated population of nearly
1.4 billion) and one of the largest countries by size, with a land mass of
roughly 9.3 million square kilometers (km), or roughly 3.6 million square
miles. 4 South Korea, in comparison, is approximately 28 times smaller in
population (estimated at 49 million people) and 96 times smaller in area
(estimated a 96,920 square km, or 37,421 square miles). 5 The vast disparity
in physical size matters more prominently in South Korea’s security
perceptions because of geographic proximity. Although South Korea does
not directly adjoin China, the Korean Peninsula is connected to continental
Asia via a 1,416 km (880 mile) border with China. This geographic reality
will never change and will always directly affect South Korea’s security
perceptions—increasingly so as a rising China becomes more assertive in its
foreign policy.
2 Jae Ho Chung, Between Ally and Partner: Korea-China Relations and the United States (New York:
Columbia University Press, 2007), 114.
3 Aaron L. Friedberg, A Contest For Supremacy: China, America, and the Struggle for Mastery in Asia
(New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011), 201.
4 “East and Southeast Asia: China,” in World Factbook (Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence
Agency, 2015) u https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html.
5 “East and Southeast Asia: Korea, South,” in ibid. u https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/
the-world-factbook/geos/ks.html.
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