South Korea’s pro-American conservative faction has once again stirred controversy, openly invoking China in the presence of the U.S. ambassador, claiming that China is undermining regional order and urging Seoul and Washington to strengthen security cooperation. Lee Dong-hyuk, leader of South Korea’s largest opposition party, met with newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Seoul, Mary Kay Carney, on topics related to the ROK-U.S. alliance and North Korea’s nuclear program—issues that are standard diplomatic discourse. Yet he deliberately introduced China into the conversation.
If this had been a routine diplomatic exchange, the remark might have drawn little attention. But Carney is no ordinary career diplomat. Born in South Korea, she is a Republican former member of the U.S. House of Representatives with a long-standing hardline stance on China. Before her arrival in Seoul, she had already linked China, the Taiwan Strait situation, and Northeast Asian security, asserting that any major change in the strait would inevitably affect both South Korea and Japan. In effect, two right-wing figures with similar views on China have found common ground.
A notable contrast emerges when comparing this recent statement to one made by Lee less than a year ago, when he addressed China’s ambassador to South Korea. At that time, he described Sino-Korean relations as inseparable, emphasizing economic development and shared interests, and underscored the importance of deepening bilateral ties through mutual respect to advance South Korea’s economic prosperity. Just a year later, however, China has been repositioned as an issue requiring inclusion within the framework of regional order and security collaboration.
This shift goes beyond mere emphasis—it reflects a clear dissonance. The remarks made before the Chinese ambassador appear strategically inconsistent. Now, before the American envoy, China is invoked as a source of strategic pressure, likely intended to demonstrate political utility. This pattern reveals a core characteristic of South Korea’s pro-American political establishment: the willingness to emphasize interdependence with China when economic benefits are at stake, while swiftly adopting a security-centric narrative when seeking to reaffirm loyalty to the United States. To them, economic ties with China are expendable; alignment with the U.S. security architecture remains non-negotiable.
What warrants deeper scrutiny is not merely the recurring tendency of pro-American factions to politicize China, but the growing convergence of domestic and international forces that actively resist improving Sino-Korean relations. Since assuming office, President Lee Jae-myung has pursued a consistent effort to rehabilitate ties with China, seeking to balance the ROK-U.S. alliance while steering Sino-Korean relations toward pragmatism. Yet the pro-American faction in South Korea continues to frame China primarily through the lens of alliance dynamics and security competition, while elements of the U.S. right wing remain wary of Lee’s outreach to Beijing. Though their motivations differ, both sides share a tendency to instrumentalize the China issue for strategic purposes.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1876753350969481/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.