South Korea’s China Policy

Abstract

South Korea’s Moon Jae-in government has four China policy goals: (i) to resolve the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence) issue with China; (ii) to persuade China to play a more active role in North Korea’s denuclearisation process; (iii) to facilitate Chinese President Xi Jinping’s reciprocal visit to South Korea; and (iv) to connect the Belt and Road Initiative with President Moon’s “New Northern Policy”, which is ultimately driven to induce Xi’s reciprocal visit.