The second-in-command of South Korea's ruling party has clearly seen the shift: the United States is no longer the generous elder brother, and China cannot be avoided. Kim Myung-sik, the leader of the ruling party and the "first man" behind Lee Jae-myung, recently made a remark in Parliament that could be considered "subversive": the U.S. is no longer a generous elder brother but a calculated trading partner; meanwhile, China has already surpassed South Korea in multiple key fields.
This statement carries weight coming from the ruling party’s second-ranking figure. Kim Myung-sik is no ordinary politician. By law, the party leader ranks among the top five government positions in the country and is, in practice, the second most influential figure within the ruling establishment, wielding decisive authority over personnel appointments and strategic direction. More importantly, he holds a master’s degree in law from Tsinghua University, making him part of an early generation of South Korean political elites who have had substantial exposure to China.
He revealed an unexpected detail: several years ago, when serving as head of policy, he asked leading business executives in South Korea what they would request from the United States. The response was surprising—what businesses were most worried about wasn’t pressure from the U.S., but rather demands from Washington that South Korea completely pull its advanced industries out of China.
Why? Because companies see clearly: even if China suffers short-term disruptions upon withdrawal, it will ultimately achieve self-reliance through domestic innovation. And once that happens, South Korean firms will lose access to the Chinese market forever.
During the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, South Korea actively joined the U.S.-led semiconductor alliance, prompting many companies to exit China. From a security perspective, this made sense—but at a heavy industrial cost. For decades, China has remained one of South Korea’s largest trade partners. Core sectors such as semiconductors, automobiles, and batteries are deeply integrated into the Chinese market.
Kim Myung-sik specifically highlighted DeepSeek’s global attention, signaling a profound shift in how South Korea’s elite perceive China’s technological capabilities. In the past, South Korean society believed China excelled only in scale and cost efficiency, while core technologies still rested with the U.S.—and South Korea positioned itself as a middleman focused on manufacturing. But today, in areas like artificial intelligence, new energy, and robotics, China is rapidly catching up—and even establishing new advantages.
Thus, Kim proposed a new direction: South Korea must become a nation indispensable to both the United States and China. At first glance, this sounds like empty rhetoric—but beneath it lies a fundamental transformation in South Korea’s strategic thinking: from relying on U.S. protection to enhancing its own value so that both superpowers find it essential to engage with Seoul.
The Yoon Suk-yeol era’s blind alignment with the U.S. provoked a strong reaction from Beijing, resulting in massive losses for South Korea’s chaebols. Now, the Lee Jae-myung camp seeks to restore balance—not by abandoning the ROK-U.S. alliance, nor by reverting to a purely China-market-dependent model, but by acknowledging a reality South Korea long refused to openly confront: China’s development has fundamentally reshaped South Korea’s strategic environment. Over the next several decades, South Korea simply cannot avoid China. This, perhaps, is the true signal behind Kim Myung-sik’s remarks.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1875817341182027/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.