South Korea considers China as its main threat

A majority of South Korean citizens named China, not North Korea, the main threat to the republic, information reported by the Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia.

According to the survey, 55 percent of respondents see Beijing as the biggest threat to Seoul in the next ten years, despite the broad economic partnership between the two states. The paper refers to China's harsh response to the deployment of US THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile defense systems on South Korean territory in 2016. In response, China imposed sanctions against several South Korean companies and individuals, especially against artists.

The author of the material states that South Korea's desire to acquire its own nuclear weapons also runs counter to China's ambitions in the region. ,,China can accept North Korea having nuclear weapons, but not South Korea,’’ said Soo Kim of the military think tank RAND Corporation.

The expert added that Beijing will perceive the appearance of its own nuclear arsenal in South Korea as a threat associated with the expansion of the influence of the United States on the peninsula.

The South Korean Foreign Minister, Park Jin, and the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, met on November 29th. to find solutions and reopen denuclearization talks with North Korea and to resume cultural exports, both saying they ,,agreed to each consider the other's legitimate concerns and continue to manage prudently and adequately the conflict without becoming an obstacle to the development of bilateral relations’’.