Sino-South Korean relations

In the 1980s, the Northern policy of the President of the Republic of Korea, Roh Da U, was at the beginning more popular in Moscow than in Beijing . The Soviet Union had more political and financial interests in the Republic of Korea than the People’s Republic of China. Nevertheless, the PRC, taking advantage of the growing economy of the Republic of Korea, as well as geographic proximity to this country, began to establish active trade contacts. However, the absence of any official relations made the expansion of trade between Seoul and Beijing difficult, since the Republic of Korea could not legally protect its citizens and the interests of business in the PRC. Beijing, compared with Moscow, was politically closer to the DPRK , which slowed down the improvement of relations between the PRC and the Republic of Korea, despite the increase in the volume of trade between the two countries. In addition, China tried to become a mediator between the DPRK and the United States of America , as well as between the DPRK and Japan , with the participation of the Chinese authorities held tripartite negotiations with the participation of the DPRK, the Republic of Korea and the United States ^[1] .

In the late 1980s, the population of the Republic of Korea and the PRC began to actively cooperate with each other. Scientists, journalists and divided families were able to freely cross the border between countries. Nearly 2 million ethnic Koreans in the PRC, especially from the Yanbian-Korean Autonomous Region , were able to communicate with Koreans from the Republic of Korea. In June 1989, the PRC authorities launched a crackdown on demonstrators in Beijing, which was unconditionally supported by the DPRK authorities. The Republic of Korea has responded ambiguously to these events, not becoming a justification for the Chinese authorities, but at the same time not becoming their condemnation. Meanwhile, the trade turnover between China and the Republic of Korea continued to grow ^[1] .

On August 24, 1992, diplomatic relations between the countries were established ^[2] . For decades, the PRC recognized only North Korea , and the Republic of Korea recognized only the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan . In recent years, China and the Republic of Korea have sought to increase the level of strategic cooperation and partnership. In 2009, about 600,000 citizens of the PRC lived in the Republic of Korea, of which 70% are ethnic Koreans from the Yanbian-Korean Autonomous Region of Jilin Province, while approximately 560,000 citizens of the Republic of Korea lived in China ^[3] . In 2013, relations between the countries deteriorated due to the fact that China expanded its Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea over the territory of the Republic of Korea ^[4] .

In July 2014, Xi Jinping visited the Republic of Korea and during negotiations with Park Geun-hye confirmed his position on maintaining the nuclear-free status of the Korean Peninsula, and also announced preparations for signing a free trade agreement with the Republic of Korea. Both leaders also expressed their concern about the interpretation by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the Ninth Article of the Japanese Constitution ^[5] .

In 2016, the People's Republic of China became the largest trading partner of the Republic of Korea: South Koreans exported goods to the PRC in the amount of 124 billion US dollars , and imported Chinese goods in the amount of 93.7 billion US dollars ^[6] .