The China-ROK Trade Relationship and Implications for Managing Security Cooperation

Since their normalization of relations, China has emerged as South Korea’s biggest trade partner and investment destination. Though this has strengthened the Sino-South Korean partnership, growing economic competition presents a new source of tension in the relationship that demands careful political management from both sides. China and South Korea have managed trade tensions such as the garlic (2000) and kimchi (2005) wars but the lack of institutional mechanisms regulating security relations has undermined similar progress in addressing bilateral security challenges including historical and territorial issues. The Cheonan incident in March 2010 marks the lowest point in China-ROK relations since diplomatic normalization in 1992 and demonstrates the relative weakness of institutional mechanisms for managing the political and security side of the China-ROK relationship. Join us on October 12 at KEI as Scott Snyder and See-Won Byun of the Center for U.S. Korea Policy present their paper on the topic.