There are many problems with this logic, the most fundamental one being the reversal of cause and effect. They confidently believe that China will not fight a duel with South Korea if the latter is in these multilateral frameworks, because other countries will join forces to help South Korea if China does so. These people then deduce that South Korea needs to participate more actively in the Western-led multilateral framework to deal with China. If South Korea did so, China would view it in a new light and pay more attention to it. Some in the South Korean government argue that China has already 'retaliated' against South Korea over the THAAD issue because the latter did not show enough solidarity with Western countries like the US and Japan. Many South Korean media outlets and experts worry that their country will sooner or later face 'retaliation' from China because of such moves.īut it seems the Yoon administration has a different logic to convince itself.

This includes strengthening trilateral cooperation among the US, South Korea and Japan, attending the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, and attending the NATO summit. OPINION / COLUMNISTS South Korea should not blindly follow the US and the West in making its China policy By Zhan Debin Published: 03:55 PMĬhina South Korea File photo:CGTNSince taking office, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been participating in multilateral mechanisms or events that more or less took China as the target.

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