CHINA-SOUTH KOREA & PUBLIC ATTITUDES
|
Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on July 3, 2014, at the start of a two-day visit that is described as "significant" and expected to raise the relationship from "a strategic cooperative partnership to a comprehensive level". A Report released in July 2014, by South Korea's ASAN Institute for Policy Studies on the attitude of Koreans towards China, assessed that Korea-China relations improved significantly under the presidency of Park Geun-hye, and that as the the two leaders prepare to hold their second summit in July 2014, cooperation on a range of issues is increasing. It noted that thus far the public reaction to this warming relationship has been largely positive and the Korean public now views China more positively than at any time since Asan began tracking this across a range of metrics. But wariness of China lingers just below the surface. The increase in China’s hard power unsettles much of the Korean public with a clear majority stating that it perceives this increase as a threat. While it is not perceived to be a direct threat to South Korea, it is seen as making the region a more dangerous place.
|