Both countries pose major security challenges, but only the North raises difficult questions about national identity
It would be easy to assume that South Korea’s relationships with China and North Korea are inextricably linked, not least because Beijing is Pyongyang’s biggest backer. And South Koreans are in broad agreement that China and the DPRK pose significant security challenges.
But public opinion breaks down quite differently. South Koreans across the political spectrum feel mostly negatively about China, but there are fundamental divides between the left and right about how to handle North Korea.
It would be easy to assume that South Korea’s relationships with China and North Korea are inextricably linked, not least because Beijing is Pyongyang’s biggest backer. And South Koreans are in broad agreement that China and the DPRK pose significant security challenges.
But public opinion breaks down quite differently. South Koreans across the political spectrum feel mostly negatively about China, but there are fundamental divides between the left and right about how to handle North Korea.
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