China is South Korea’s Drug, And It Just Can’t Quit.
- South China Morning post
- Mar 23
- 1 min read
South Korea’s economic reliance on China’s imports and exports trumps any desire to find another money-maker.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
South Korea, a country extremely dependent on China, has shown signs of straying away from the global superpower. Without China, both South Korea and Japan (another important trade partner) would suffer great losses in their economy. Japan has kept a close economic relationship with China for years, and given that about 20% of its exports go to China, nobody is surprised. One of China’s esteemed representatives Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged for Japan and South Korea to strengthen ties between the three nations, suggesting that it will ease tension and boost economic growth for all.
When asked about plans to grow a more powerful economic relationship with China, a delegate from South Korea expressed a desire to stop trade with China, stating “We do not want to trade with China, only Western countries.” This is an uneducated response as almost 40% of their exports go to Asian countries, and trading is 88% of their GDP. Once the South Korean delegate was reminded of Korea’s dependence on China, the delegate reclaimed their sentence, then declaring “We would be willing to (strengthen) trade with China.” In contrast, the Japanese delegate was eager to continue to expand their ties with China, showing a stark difference in maturity between the two countries’ representatives. Is this Freudian Slip by the South Korean delegate a portrayal of immaturity, or a drastic change in Korea’s foreign policy that requires further investigation?
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