Observing South Korea’s Position in China’s Foreign Policy from Three Dimensions

This paper attempts to pinpoint the position of China-South Korea relations to China’s foreign policy through a detailed analysis of three dimensions: the closeness level of China-South Korea relations, the depth and breadth of their bilateral cooperation, and the importance of South Korea. Analysis of those three dimensions indicates that South Korea is located at the mid-level of China’s foreign policy. The result suggests that although China-South Korea relations are currently “the best in history,” they are not yet one of China’s most important bilateral relationships and South Korea policy is not China’s priority. In contrast, the Park Geun-hye administration places China-South Korea relations next only to South Korea-US relations. China and South Korea consider their relationship differently and, as a result, South Korea’s disappointment with China was once again triggered after North Korea conducted its fourth round of nuclear tests, and the phrase “discourse of South Korea’s failed foreign policy towards China” was used.