http://news.joins.com/society/200603/19/20...0030103011.html

According to a survey by Korean Institute for Defense Analyses, 37.7% of respondents chose China as the greatest threat to Korean national security after 10 years. Japan is next highest at 23.6%, then North Korea at 20.7% and the United States at 14.8%. The majority of the respondents who chose China were in their 20s(42%) and had college education or above(43.3%). The United States was chosen as the most cooperative country at 81.7%, China at 6.1%, North Korea at 5.4%, then Japan at 4.5%. 77.5% of those who chose the United States were in their 20s.

It's good to see that my fellow countrymen, or at least people around my age, are on the right track.

delete

in your dreams dumbass, only the stupid always make the wrong conclusions.

it means china is being a fu-kin dumbass and alienating everyone, including south korea. A country that walks that kind of road meets only doom.

delete

Actually most of SEA hates china.

delete

That's not true. Everybody hates china.

delete

blah blah blah. You don't even live in SEA, what would u know.

hey hey hey... though young foolish south koreans think china is a threat. The old wise koreans think otherwise. The south korean government is on good terms with china. Those foolish youth don't know what they're talking about.

China probably is one of the best countries when it comes to foreign policy

wow, a touchy subject.

That reflects what some of the Koreans around me also believe in terms of policy. We'll have to wait and see what happens...

I'm refraining from putting in my 2 cents because this is bound to lead to flaming either way...
i'll leave that to the nationalists.

Actually the friendliness towards China that you see (from Japan, Korea to SEA) is only because of China's huge market. It's all fake!

delete

The current Roh administration is not a group of "political elites", and its approval rate is below 30%. I'm pretty sure the real political elites, e.g. the Grand National Party, see China from a similar perspective as reflected in the polls. China provoked the GNP quite many times by the way, such as rejecting visas and interfering a press conference.

And just what would you know? Hmm?

Anyway, I'm not too surprised regarding the polls (if it's even true). China is slowly restoring her natural position as East Asia's dominant power, so it's only habitual that our neighbors view us with anxiety.

Not all dominant powers are met with "anxiety".

You don't have to tell me what I already know. I'm aware of the biases and unreliable measures that should be accounted when generating and executing the polls for public consensus. But it would also be foolish to disregard it altogether. Public opinion would have an affect in S. Korea, at least to a certain extent, whereas citizens in NK don't have a choice under an authoritarian regime. I'm not taking sides here, but merely saying that it would impossible to dismiss public opinion altogether...

Right, but this rising power is "Communist." I really wish there was a way to oust the Communist party without destabilizing the entire region.

agreed.

The problem is with China's foreign policies, not its ideology.

delete

all the strife among the asian continent.. when will it end?

we gotta have better relations wit hChina. they're an important tool in reunification

That may be how you feel. But do you know how many negative connotations come with being "Communist?" I can damn well bet China's image will be boosted by tenfolds if this "Communist" title is dropped.

delete

wise post, Mr. Santa.. it's proven useful for myriads of occassions.

Maybe for ignorant people. Have in mind that Korea's opinion towards China was very positive until very recently. According to a longitudinal study on Korean university students in Seoul, China plunged from the most liked country to the least liked country in just a couple of years. I for one didn't really care about China nor communism until I realized a few years back that China was starting to show its true self.



Dumbass. Roh has been very good to China as a part of his "northeast balancer policy", and I'm only seeing things get worse and worse.

delete

deleted

delete

It has everything to do with having a govt. that is an oligarchical dictatorship. During the height of the Cold War, the US was at odds with India, a Socialist state. Now that India is a full-fledged democracy (although, ironically, having more of a socialist economic system than China), ties are much warmer bwtn the US and India. (If the KMT had been victorious and Mao and the Communists had fled to Taiwan, who do you think the US would be more friendly with?)

Btw, when was China ever happy not invading its neighbors or forcing them to pay tribute?




If anything, it was the PRC that started all the hoopla over China’s northeast territory.



You’re quite ignorant. It’s official NK policy for the reunification of Korea.

Plus at least Koreans share the same heritage/bloodlines – what’s China’s excuse for Tibet, lower Mongolia, Taiwan, etc.

By your "logic", you must also have no problem with an independent and sovereign Taiwan.

By your logic, all NATO members aren't independent, but that's just beyond common sense. And even the U.S. can't be considered an independent country since its military forces can be commanded by foreign commanders on many occassions, including Korean commanders. Have you ever heard of the term "alliance"?

By "nk-chi and sk-usa", you mean NK-China vs. SK-US-JP-AUS... and the list goes on and on. Reminds me of German Nazis vs. the Allies. And SK economy is not dominated by Chinese goods like NK, and we don't sell our natural resources for cheap money like a whore.

the tributary system was advantageous to both sides. when japan invaded korea, china exhausted itself sending troops to korea to fight the japanese. the ming dynasty in china fell partly because of this.

its unfair to hold the tributary system as a means of accusing china of being imperialistic.




this is strange since china originally lost taiwan because china lost in the war against japan trying to defend korea against the japanese in the first place.

and china lost the opportunity to seize taiwan in 1949 due to the outbreak of the korean war.




let us try to keep this discussion civil. since when does china sell its natural resources like a cheap whore? if i recall, china is an export-driven country based primarily in manufacturing. that is it its primary source of money.

i believe south korea is an independent country regardless of US forces on its soil. You are right. It is an alliance.

delete

If I remember correctly, the tributary system during mid Chosun Dynasty was detrimental to Chosun's defensive capabilities, as many of the out-going tributary goods included potential military assets such as horses.



The term "defend" is inappropriate. China at the time was no better than Japan in terms of political motives.



And due to the Chinese intervention in the Korean War, Korea remains divided to this day.



I meant NK is selling natural resources to China like a cheap whore.

Yeah, tell that to the Tibetans, etc. When Japan invaded Korea, the Ming dynasty fought Japan to save it’s own @$$, not to save Korea – since the Japanese intended to invade China by way of Korea.

The Japanese actually offered to ally with Korea, if Korea allowed Japanese troops to use Korea as a gateway to invade China.

Plus, you can also say that Korea also saved China as well, since Admiral Yi and his fleet was the reason why the Japanese couldn’t take full advantage of their superior firearms (due to large portions of their fleet/supplies being sunk).





Really, where do you “learn” this stuff? Both Korea and Taiwan were seen as nothing but pawns to be dominated by both the Chinese and Japanese.

Gee, I guess the Chinese never invaded Tibet, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, etc. (could that possibly be imperialism?)

And even in modern times, China had invaded Vietnam, Tibet, India.



That was solely Mao’s fault for deciding to listen to Stalin. If China had stayed out of the Korean War, the US would have kept it’s hands-off policy with regard to Taiwan.

Just don't keep "whitewashing" China's past actions just like the Japanese are doing now.

I am not an expert in korean history so perhaps this is true. I agree that the chinese tributary system was a form of imperialism.



China allowed Korea to be self-ruled. Japanese did not.



I could say the same for the North. If the US had not intervened, Korea would not be divided to this day. China intervened after the US did.



China is trying to invest in north korea to build up infrastructure and to make it more self-sustainable. However, so far all attempts have ended in failure as Mr. Kim does not wish to open the slightest. There are more problems between north korea and china than you think. They are not china's puppet. I assure you Mr. Kim sees China only as a means of support for his regime. And China does not wish north korea to have nuclear weapons.

delete

Only after immense outside pressure – China only allowed Japan to recognize Korea as an independent state in 1875 and even then, China meddled with “Korean rule”.



The US, actually the UN, intervened b/c NK attacked the South. Wouldn’t you say a prosperous democratic Korea (a la SK) is far more preferable to the hell-hole that a unified Korea would be under Kim, Jr.?

I do not wish to get into a heated argument. I am willing to discuss this peacefully.



Do you feel the Japanese would have honored their deal to ally with Korea? I believe they had the same designs for Korea as they did for China. I know Koreans and Japanese have cultural affinity with each other but I do not think that would have made Korea under Japanese domination less harsh. Japan tried to stamp out Korean culture and language. Korea under China's tributary system, its language and culture was intact. The tributary system was purely political. I do not see how you can prefer Japanese rule over China's tributary system.



I do agree that China has an imperialistic past. But if China is guilty of having an imperialistic past, then so are all the great powers of the world such as England, France, Russia, Germany, the list goes on.

In modern times, China invaded Vietnam as a result of the vietnamese treatment towards ethnic Chinese in the country. I am sure you know about the boat people.

China did not invade India. The short war between the two was fought over an area of mountains which both countries claimed to be their own.

I do agree that China invaded Tibet and it is imperialism. However, the stories of brutality going on in Tibet is grossly exaggerated and blown out of proportion by the western media.



Mao had no choice but to listen to Stalin because China at the time was war ravaged and the Soviet Union was its only means of support.

And I am curious about this "hands off" policy the US had with regards to Taiwan. I find it very unbecoming of Americans to have just let Taiwan be invaded like that.




I don't see how you can compare China's actions with that of the Japanese from any aspect and from any angle.

China actively intervened in internal affairs to destroy the pro-modernization political factions, not to speak of kidnapping the de-facto ruler.



I said the same for Taiwan. It was China's choice, don't blame us for that.



NK made numerous attempts to make "special economic zones" on its own, but they were all foiled by Chinese intervention, such as sending the man who was to lead the Shinuiju project to prison. It was only when Mr. Kim gave developmental rights of those "special economic zones" over to China that China began cooperating with those developments. So far, I've only seen China take so much interest in taking away natural resources and making NK its colonial dependency, much similar to the type of economic relationship that colonial Korea had with the Japanese Empire.

Yes, I do agree a unified Korea under democratic rule would be much better. But this was 60 years ago. It was a different time. Communism was the new thing. If you go back to that time period, many people around the world were pro-Communist.

Do you think China would have been so pro-communist had they known how it would turn out? It was only later that we found out that it did not work. And China is only in the last 30 years or so recovering from its effects.

I feel it is sad the way North Korea suffers and I am appalled at the treatment of North Korean refugees by the Chinese. It is shameful. However, it should be noted that most of the north korean refugees in China hide out and live with ethnic koreans in China. If they are mistreated, it is by people of their own blood. I do feel that Chinese government should give amnesty to these people though. Too bad that it would totally piss off Mr. Kim Jong Il if it did that.

As for the UN, we all know that the UN is a joke and is powerless. The UN opposed the invasion of Iraq but that did not stop the US from invading it anyway.

You also need to view this from China's point of view. American forces were approaching the chinese border from Korea. Clearly, this was a threat since the Americans were in support of Jiang Jie Shi's government in Taiwan and NOT the CCP under Mao.

Yeah, just like Iran is a “democracy” now or Mexico was 30 years ago.




I’m well aware of that and critical of such US foreign policy – but at the same time, often such dictatorships were the “lesser of 2 evils”. Compare SK/NK and Taiwan/PRC – gee, I wonder which dictatorships gave way to prosperous economies and real democracy?

As for Iran, most Iranians hate their present “democratic” govt.



Please, that research had a political motive and why the sudden change in thinking (after all, it’s not like China didn’t know that the area in question was once part of the Koguryo Kingdom)?

Unification implies that the two were never part of a whole, reunification means… you get the picture.



If you don’t care if Taiwan separates (which, btw, they have already done), then why would you factor in a fight?

Nation states based on ethnicity and nations (largely in the "new world") based on immigration are two entirely different things.

I do not blame. Mind you though, had the Americans not gotten involved, China would not have been involved either. This was 1950. China had suffered over a decade of warfare. The whole country was in ruins. The last thing Mao and the others wanted was a war.



Colonial Korea under Japanese rule did not have nuclear weapons. There is more to the North Korea-China relationship than meets the eye. Just like how the world thought China-Soviet Union had solid relations for most of the cold war when in fact, the Sino-Soviet split happened as early as the 1950's. The world tends to believe that all communist country relationships are simple and easy.

Whether or not China intends to make North Korea into a colonial dependency or not is not the issue. The issue is that North Korea could become much more self-sufficient simply by opening itself up a little bit. However, Mr. Kim Jong Il refuses to do that and as a result, he is dooming his own country to be dependent on China.

I don't see how NK economy becomes "self-sufficient" when much of it is owned by Chinese and most of the manufactured products come from China. And the Chinese engagement in NK is proving to be very detrimental in improving SK-NK relations.

All of this is because Kim Jong Il makes no effort to allow north koreans some freedom. A successful economy comes from allowing the people to figure out ways to improve their own lives. In the end, the fault goes to Kim Jong Il.

I would also like to add that China, due to its size and its past status as a superpower in Asia, will never be regarded as a peaceful country no matter what it does. It can have the most peaceful people, it can have the most peaceful government who has no interests outside of China and it will still be regarded as a threat just simply because of its sheer size and the amount of land it occupies.

it does not matter if it is a totalitarian government or it is a democracy. In the end, it is about nationalism. Chinese nationalism and the memories of China as a superpower in Chinese people's minds will not disappear if there is a democratic government. Democratic governments are not peaceful due to many examples in history. Even Hitler was voted into power by a public vote.

delete

Kim Jong-il has little control, and his rule over the country is fragile at best. SK's major concern with NK today is that its government might collapse and allow Chinese intervention, i.e. military occupation and installment of a puppet government under the false pretense of maintaining regional stability and preventing refugees. And don't make me repeat this again:



And for your information, a SK-NK joint industrial development that could really make NK self-sufficient - the Gaesung Industrial Complex - has been making solid progress.



By your logic, Canada and Mexico should never consider the U.S. as a "peaceful" country... but they seem to get along fine. Stop blaming others, because the answer lies in China.

These 20 year old Stupid Korean college students just didnt want to learn Chinese Kanja and speak Mandarin, so end up voting off China, so they wouldnt have to learn the Kanja and Mandarin language. Too bad they have to learn it anyway. LMAO...... jk joke......
well the Korean people always fear their big neighbors, big deal.

Yes, and all those nations share the guilt as well. But a lot of Chinese here complain about how the West treated China and totally overlook how China had historically treated its neighbors (as so far to say that China was never like the West in this regard).



The whole mistreatment of ethnic Chinese excuse was a pretext. The PRC invaded b/c Vietnam had allied itself more closely with the Soviets (at this point the Soviets and the Chinese had split) and Vietnam had invaded Cambodia and done away with the PRC-supported Khmer Rouge regime.

As for the war with India, India’s borders was what was recognized internationally and the the key skirmishes during the conflict occurred when PLA units moved in against established Indian outposts.




Actually, serious Western scholars really don’t exaggerate the numbers of Tibetan dead (since Tibetans didn’t really have much ability to resist), but nonetheless, when has an invading army ever not commit atrocities?

Mao did have a choice since Stalin wasn’t about to allow a fellow Stalinist-style govt. go down the drain.



I’m not comparing specifics, just in general that both countries engaged in Imperialism in Asia.




And many were against, esp. the Stalinist-style Communism,.



According to many of your compatriots here – yes.



Actually, many such Koreans refugees have to bribe Chinese officials, work for slave wages and North Korean female refugees have been known to be sold to Chinese men as brides.



In this case, the UN sanctioned the action in Korea since NK had attacked the South.



As I had stated, the US had a hands-off policy with regard to Taiwan at that time. Plus, Mao had already decided to enter the war when US forces crossed the 38th parallel, NOT when American forces approached the Yalu River.