[Citizen College Season 3] U.S.-China competition in East Asia and South Korea.

On November 8, 2019, the seventh lecture of the Citizen College Season 3 “Citizens and the World: Peace on the Korean Peninsula and International Politics” was given at Korea University’s Political Science & Economics Bldg. 101, jointly conducted by the Seongbuk-gu Office and the Korea University Institute for Peace and Democracy. The seventh lecture was given by Kim Heon-joon, a political science professor at Korea University.

Titled “Competition between the U.S. and China in East Asia and Korea,” the lecture looked at the 21st century U.S.-China relationship through the theory of power transfer. It was time to assess Korea’s response to the past and present competition between the U.S. and China, and to discuss which options Korea should choose between the U.S. and China. Traditionally, China ruled Joseon in a flunkeysim.  And as we opened the port, they tried to define the cause of the flunkeyism order as a Western international law regulation.  Also, the U.S. has not placed much value on the Korean Peninsula compared to the present, but has shown that it is trying to include the Korean Peninsula within its sphere of influence under the Western Modern Act.  As such, pressure from China and the United States on the Korean Peninsula has been constantly building up. The 21st century U.S.-China relations are often approached by the theory of power transfer. The theory of power transfer emphasizes the hierarchical distribution of national power. Governors, big powers, middle powers, and small countries have a hierarchy in the form of pyramids. It’s the theory that there’s a war between the hegemony and the emerging country when they believe that the emerging country is not satisfied with their present state, but also have the ability to change it at the same time, and there’s actually an attempt to change the status quo. The scope of Korea’s activities between the U.S., the hegemonic power, and the emerging countries is continuously downsizing. In addition, Korea’s response to the U.S.-China rivalry leaves much to be desired. we’ve been obsessed with baseless optimism for some time, and we don’t have a clear view of national interests at the moment. It also tends to be swayed by domestic political requirements in terms of real diplomacy. Between the U.S. and China, Korea’s options are Balancing/Continuing and Hedging. But in this situation, even hedging is difficult. “The most important thing is to identify Korea’s position and national interests and deal with each issue,” the speaker stressed. There is also military and economic competition between the U.S. and China, but there is also a competition for values and norms, and he emphasized the usefulness of Korea’s response by utilizing the system and norms.