한중동반자관계의 성과와 쟁점에 관한 연구

Abstract

A Study on The Outcome and Issue of the Partnership between Korea and China.

Sang -Yun Park

Department of International and Area Studies, The Graduate School, Pukyong National University

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to define the characteristics and quality of partnership employed by China in its foreign diplomacy and to evaluate the development of the partnerships and achievements of each South Korean leader from the Roh Taewoo administration, which focused on a friendly cooperative relationship, to the Lee Myungbak administration that sought cooperative partnership with China. It also aims to look at issues created by the rapid development and to find solutions. The Kim Youngsam administration, which took office in 1993 after the establishment of Korea-China relationship, rarely made political and diplomatic concessions against its national interest while China tried to gain upper hand in the Korean peninsula issues. Korea also retained hardline policies toward North Korea through the enhancement of Korea-US ally. In economic fronts, however, both South Korea and China lay foundation for trade to maximize mutual gains. Amid the domestic surroundings of confrontation with the North's military threat after the Korean War and the international situation of Cold War, South Korea realized that the US was the biggest supporter for its own survival and development, which translated into the South's direction in diplomacy. Hence, the South aggressively joined the US in blocking communist policies. Such practices, however, began to change after the Kim Daejoong government, which was represented by sunshine policies and associated foreign diplomacy. Another development was made to the balanced Korea-China relations with then president Kim Daejoong's state visit to China from November 11 to 15, 1998, where Kim and Chinese President Jiang Zemin agreed to establish the "21st century cooperative partnership." President Roh Muhyun, despite some differences regarding the extended multilateral talks and solutions for the North's nuclear issues, upgraded the relations to "comprehensive cooperative partnership" when he met with Chinese president Hu Jintao on July 7, 2003. When it comes to economic exchanges between Seoul and Beijing, unprecedented progress was made during the Roh Myhyun administration. The trade volume between the two grew nearly seven times from $6.2 billion at the time of relation establishment to $41.2 billion in 2002, which again soared to $118 billion in 2006, 118 times larger compared with the initial amount. The Korean economy generated some $35 trillion worth of GDP through the mutual trade exchange. While Lee Myungbak's pragmatism diplomacy relatively stresses the enhancement of Korea-US relations and Korea-US-Japan cooperation promotion, it fails to give a clear diplomatic stance toward China, leaving some to suspect Korea's negligence of China. However, Lee Myungbak recently said that Korea-China relations is one of the most vital, outlining his foreign diplomacy that seeks to restore and further upgrade relations with the US and Japan, which suffered setback during the Kim Daejoong and Roh Myhyun administrations. President Lee Myungbak, during his four-day visit to China on May 27, 2008, upgraded Korea-China relations from "comprehensive cooperative partnership" to "strategic cooperative partnership." With this agreement, the relations between the two countries reached the highest level that promotes exchanges and cooperations in areas including politics, foreign diplomacy, security, economy, society, science, culture, art and human resources but military. Disputes over history between Seoul and Beijing will not be resolved overnight and are likely to persist for the time being. Responses to China's Northeast Asia Project and history textbook distortion issues will only work if meticulous research and actions are combined. In order to resolve such history disputes, both Korea and China should strive to narrow the gap of history perception while steadily retaining mutual exchanges. Eastern Asian countries should approach historical disputes based on mutual understanding and respect. Governments, academic circles and the public need to work together to bring stability and peach to the region. North Korean human rights issues, though hard to resolve in a short time, should also be addressed to guarantee humanitarian lives for the northen citizens among others. Improvements and promotions of north Koreans' lives are all the more needed for not just the true peace but also the peaceful reunification based on the values of democracy. Appropriate and continuous cooperation between public and private sector in improving the North's human rights issues will bear fruit in a near future. Despite mutual complimentary and close relations in economic front, Korea depends much on China. It faces tireless competition of Chinese companies in fields like IT, semiconductor, shipbuilding, electronics and mobile phone. China is expected to surpass Korea in many of these industries in a few years. Korea is needed to maintain technological advantage over China in those areas and make multilateral efforts to reduce its dependence on China. As such, other than current issues to be dealt with between the two, a common denominator does exist for mutual cooperation. Korea and China should fine-tune disputes and confrontations with understanding and cooperation in order to further foster exchanges and development.

Keywords: Korea and China Strategic Cooperation Partnership, China foreign diplomacy, Amity