{"id":2201085,"date":"2023-05-19T19:11:38","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T10:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2201085"},"modified":"2023-05-22T20:16:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T11:16:01","slug":"chinas-wolf-warrior-rhetoric-signals-rough-times-ahead-for-south-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/05\/chinas-wolf-warrior-rhetoric-signals-rough-times-ahead-for-south-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s \u2018wolf warrior\u2019 rhetoric signals rough times ahead for South Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"
Beijing\u2019s increasingly antagonistic \u201c<\/span>wolf warrior<\/span><\/a>\u201d rhetoric toward the Yoon administration signals a critical shift in the dynamics of ROK-China relations.<\/span><\/p>\n President Yoon Suk-yeol\u2019s <\/span>remarks<\/span><\/a> ahead of his trip to Washington in April, where he opposed any attempts to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by force, elicited a furious response from China.<\/span><\/p>\n South Korean media <\/span>quoted<\/span><\/a> a \u201cChinese source in Beijing,\u201d stating, \u201cChina sees this as a sign that South Korea has become more aligned with the U.S., and it will probably wait to see the outcome of the upcoming South Korea-U.S. summit before making a concrete response.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n China\u2019s state-run media outlet <\/span>Global Times<\/span><\/i> launched a critique of Yoon in late April, accusing him of <\/span>bowing to Japan<\/span><\/a> to win favor with Washington. The outlet labeled Yoon the \u201c<\/span>least independent-minded<\/span><\/a>\u201d South Korean president thus far.<\/span><\/p>\n When the South Korean Embassy in Beijing <\/span>expressed<\/span><\/a> its objection to these sentiments, the <\/span>Global Times<\/span><\/i> issued<\/span><\/a> a stark warning: Seoul risked a \u201ccollapse of the situation in Northeast Asia,\u201d a scenario it described as \u201cunbearable\u201d for South Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n There are other signs that China is adopting a <\/span>more confrontational<\/span><\/a> posture, with the ROK foreign ministry confirming that Korean businesspeople in China shared <\/span>rumors<\/span><\/a> on social media that Beijing might deploy tactics akin to those utilized during the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) dispute from 2016 to 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n