China's 'greed' compels Korea to side with US, Japan

By Choo Jae-woo

Recent news reports on South Korea's diplomatic moves are not music to the ears of China. On March 7, South Korea announced its plan to compensate wartime forced labor victims without the involvement of Japanese firms. It will seek donations from Korean companies that benefited from Japanese reparations and assistance as a result of the normalization of relations between the two countries back in 1965.

The next day, it was reported that Seoul plans to "proactively accelerate" its participation in the Quad working group. On March 9, the presidential office confirmed that President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to Japan will take place on March 16. China sees the U.S. as being behind all these deals, and Korea succumbing to U.S. pressure.

An op-ed article in Global Times on March 9 was highly critical of Korea's plan to join the Quad working group. The plan, in the eyes of the Chinese, was the result of growing U.S. pressure on Korea. The same article further went on to argue that the Korean president, under the circumstances, had no other choice but to seek an alternative plan to the Supreme Court's ruling in 2018. The final verdict ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered Japanese companies to compensate them or otherwise face the consequences of their assets in Korea being confiscated.

The following year, Japan countered Korea's court decision with some retaliatory measures, removing Korea's fast-export status, also known as the "white list." It meant Japan imposing tighter controls on exports of three materials to Korea, which are used in the chip and displays industries. Against this background, the article argued that Korea had to make a compromise in order to be part of an international organization and corresponding dialogue mechanism joined by Japan like the Quad working group.

China has long had such a concern about President Yoon's prospective political propensity to side with the U.S., and possible drive to tilt toward Japan. The Global Times on March 9, 2022, carried an editorial that had a stern warning. It read that Washington was trying to influence Seoul, either by applying pressure or by tempting it with the prospect of shared interests. The latter is intended to serve as the focal point of geopolitical conflict in Northeast Asia. South Korea's interest is not served by this, the editorial claimed.

The editorial went on to assert that the president-elect of South Korea needs to find a solution for how to balance relations with China and the U.S. while continuing to serve as a bridge rather than "taking sides." The president's political sagacity and strategic resolve will also be put to the test. It is important to note that there is more to the world than a basic "pro-U.S." or "pro-China" divide. Geopolitically, South Korea is in a challenging, delicate and dangerous situation. To avoid having its eyesight "obstructed by floating clouds," the editorial argued, it must rise higher.

Yoon's foreign policy, however, is not about taking sides. Rather, it is about preserving a liberal international order that is buttressed by universal values. Korea as a nation that highly appreciates liberty, freedom, democracy and human rights is committed to the defense of these values in the wake of China's rise. These values, he reckoned, can only prevail if and when the institutions that they built were respected and practiced as they were originally intended. States are obliged to follow the norms and rules framed by institutions. This is where China fails to recognize these compelling factors, which affect Yoon's decision.

China's fast ascent has depleted its domestic resources and accelerated its dependency on overseas markets. China's rapid development has been outpacing the growth of its insatiable appetite for resources. China has become a 'monster' in itself for its excessive appetite. The existing laws, order, norms and rules are mere obstacles in satiating its hunger. It is why China in recent times looks as if it is more and more accustomed to ill-advised behavior with its resource procurement efforts. The problem lies in excessively revealing the gluttony of China's "monster" in the process of procuring these resources. China has become despicable in the world's resource markets, often ignoring, disrespecting, and sometimes violating and breaching existing laws and order, norms and rules.

With this gluttony, China's "monster" has no choice but to act selfishly. China's claim to the South China Sea as its territorial waters, for instance, is for reasons of resources, and out of disrespect of international maritime laws. Aiming at economic vulnerabilities in Third World resource-bearing countries, it continues to exploit them in the name of its Belt and Road Initiative.

It hardly lives up to its commitment to respect intellectual property rights and resorting to stealing to obtain high-end technologies and data has become a normal practice for the Chinese. The rapid change in food preferences of 1.4 billion Chinese people has impacted the global food supply chain. Furthermore, as China evolves into a "monster," we, mankind, cannot but worry about its threat to the global environmental ecosystem due to the waste and pollutants excreted.

Before extending its critique to Korea's compelling, yet autonomous decision to reinforce its alliance with the U.S., China must come forward by self-reflecting on its behavior. With this monster as it is, the ROK-U.S. alliance is already overwhelmed. If China continues to evolve into a monster, it will upset the foundations of the liberal international order, bandwagoning by U.S. allies will be China's responsibility to bear.

Choo Jae-woo (jwc@khu.ac.kr) is a professor of international relations at Kyung Hee University and director of the China Center at the Korea Research Institute for National Security. He was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution.