On May 6, 1983, the People’s Daily published a brief but shocking news: “This morning, a Chinese civil airliner was hijacked by a group of armed terrorist and was forced to lant at Chuncheon Military Airport near Seoul, South Korea at 13:10.” All Chinese people’s attention focused on the 105 passengers on board, not only because of worrying about their safety, but also because the landing marked an ice break between China and South Korea (ROK) at a time when two countries barely had any contact.
After committing crimes in the mainland, in order to evade legal punishments, 6 armed criminals led by Zhuo Changren hijacked China Civil Aviation Flight 296 from Shenyang to Shanghai, wounded the pilot and operator with pistols, and forced the plane to divert to South Korea. Shanghai. China and South Korea had been hostile to each other since 1950s and barely had any contact. When the hijacking incident occurred, China and South Korea did not even set up embassies in each other countries. Instead, Taiwan established the “Republic of China Embassy in South Korea.” When South Korea tried to properly handle the six arrested hijackers in accordance with the Hague Convention, the Taiwanese authority issued a statement calling the hijacking an “anti-Communist defection for freedom” and advocating a misdemeanor. The six hijackers also requested the South Korean government to extradite them to Taiwan.
Beijing fell into entanglement: how could South Korea, a longtime foe of China that maintains “diplomatic relations” with Taiwan, be persuaded to return victims and criminals to China? Unexpectedly, South Korea showed great kindness to China and invited China to send senior foreign Ministry representatives to Seoul. Obviously, South Korea was eager to get out of the dilemma of diplomatic isolation and hoped to formally engage with China. Chinese passengers and crew were accommodated to live in the most luxurious Sheraton hotel in Seoul. South Korea not only provided these mainland Chinese guests with high quality Chinese, Korean and Japanese dishes, but also arranged for them to have a tour in Seoul, climb the Namsan Tower, and visit the Samsung factory. The Chinese delegation was warmly welcomed with a red carpet at Kimpo Airport in Seoul and accommodated to stay at the Shila Hotel.
After rounds of negotiations and consultations, the Chinese side, at the insistence of the South Korean side, agreed to sign the memorandum of understanding (MOU) in the name of the People's Republic of China instead of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), and the South Korean side would also use the name Republic of Korea. The two sides finally held a ceremony for signing and exchanging the MOU on May 9 at the Shilla Hotel. In the afternoon, the Chinese delegation returned to the China with the passengers and crew. The six hijackers were eventually left to stand trial in South Korea and were only sentenced to four to eight years in prison due to the interference of the Taiwanese authority. However, Zhuo Changren and Jiang Hongjun committed kidnapping and murder after settling in Taiwan and were executed by shooting at Tucheng Detention Center in Taiwan.
Relations between China and South Korea gradually warmed up after the hijacking incident was resolved. In 1900, South Korea participated in the Beijing Asian Games to express support for China. China then supported South Korea's bid to join the United Nations. South Korea also invited China to the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympic Games it held. People-to-people and cultural exchanges and economic cooperation between the two sides profoundly increased. Finally, in August 1992, China, which opened to the world, and South Korea, which adopted the “Northern Policy” to begin communications with socialist countries, formally established diplomatic relations.
Korea's History and Today
Witness of the Cold War
In 1948, North Korea formed the People's Army with the help of the Soviet Union, when South Korea's army was half the size of North Korea's. June 25, 1950, a rainy Sunday. At 4:00 p.m., North Korea opened fire to the south at all points along the 38th parallel. Although South Korean soldiers fought bravely against Soviet T-34 tanks, they could only protect Seoul for 3 days. The Korean War begins.
The United Nations, which deemed the North Korean invasion an illegal act, convened an urgent Security Council meeting to pass a resolution calling on member states to provide military assistance to South Korea. On July 5, 1950, the United Nations Expeditionary Force entered and participated in the Battle of Osan. In August, South Korean troops were forced to return to the Nakdong River, handing over control of most of the territory to North Korea. While preventing a full-scale invasion, the Inchon landing operation began on September 15, 1950. South Korea recaptured Seoul on September 28 and turned the tide of the war. Although the south pushed back across the 38th parallel (October 1) and advanced to the Tumen (Yalu River) River, their actions were regarded as a threat by the Mao Zedong authorities, which led to the intervention of the Chinese Volunteers. This forced South Korea to re-abandon Seoul the following January.
While blocking the advance of the Chinese-North Korean coalition along the central line, the South Korean military, together with the United Nations, laid the steppingstone for a counterattack. They recaptured Seoul on March 15, 1951 and recaptured the area near the 38th parallel at the end of March. Due to the lack of progress in the war, China gradually lost interest in fighting and proposed a ceasefire to the United States through the Soviet Union on June 20. protocol. The Korean War truce negotiations began on July 10, 1951, with the demarcation of permanent military borders, the establishment of neutral state oversight, and the exchange of prisoners of war. Negotiations took two years, but reaching an agreement was not easy. During this period, the two sides fought 9 fierce battles along the 38th parallel, with heavy casualties. On July 27, 1953, the United States, North Korea and China signed an armistice that ended the war but failed to bring about permanent peace. The agreement delimits the 2km north-south border of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Panmunjom Joint Security Area (JSA). Unfortunately, the South Korean government, also involved in the war, failed to appear at the negotiating table. In the past three years of war, South Korea suffered heavy losses. A total of 29,557 soldiers were killed in combat, 4,184 died in non-combat, 92,934 were injured in action, and 7,245 soldiers became prisoners of war.
"Korean Spring" - Korean Politics and Democracy Movement
The democratization movement that began in the 1960s laid the foundation for Korea's contemporary democratic system. In 1960, South Korean President Syngman Rhee attempted to seize power twice and advocated constitutional revision, while suppressing the opposition and trying to manipulate the presidential and vice-presidential elections that year. After the incident came to light, students and residents took to the streets to protest, demanding open and transparent elections. However, the government organized the police to open fire on the protesters, igniting the April 19 revolution that eventually overthrew Syngman Rhee's dictatorship. The new government, led by Vice President Zhang Mian, pledged to guarantee the people's basic rights, supported freedom of speech, peaceful reunification, and laid out an economic development plan. The voices that were suppressed by the Li government in the past can now be heard everywhere.
Another massive democratization movement took place in Gwangju in 1980. After the Yushin System established by Park Chung-hee's military government was banned, people were looking forward to the arrival of "Seoul Spring". However, shortly after Park's assassination, Chun Doo-hwan secretly planned a new military force to stage a military coup and take control of the entire country. In May 1980, they expanded martial law, banning all political activities. When the people of Gwangju rebelled and continued their democratization drive, they were brutally suppressed by the entire government. The Chun Doo-hwan government had strengthened social control through social purification projects. Student protested the government's crackdown continued, and democratization forces launched a campaign calling for changes to the constitution to allow direct presidential elections.
Constitution Improvements
South Korea's constitutional revision also reflects its democratization process. After the April 19th Revolution, the Third Amendment to the Constitution was promulgated in 1960, further limiting the power of the government. The Fourth Amendment soon established the foundations of the contemporary constitution, while at the same time penalizing those behind the 1960 election fraud and those responsible for the mass casualties of protesters. Over time, people's fundamental rights are further guaranteed by law. The Fifth and Sixth Amendments define and limit the powers and term of office of the President. Relying on the blood and sweat of democratic strugglers in the June democratic struggle, the Ninth Amendment, promulgated in 1987, further guaranteed the people's right to vote by adopting a presidential election system based on direct universal suffrage, and also established the Constitutional Court of Korea (as pictured above). After the unremitting efforts of the people in the 1940s, South Korea has finally successfully transformed from an autocratic country in the military government era into a mature democracy, letting the Korean people became the master of the country.
“The Miracle on the Han River”
Back in the 1960s, the Park Chung-hee government began to drive economic growth through its five-year economic development plan. Since 1964, South Korea has implemented an export-oriented, market-friendly industrial policy to increase exports of labor-intensive industries such as clothing. Thanks to $13 billion in U.S. financial support, basic education has been broadened and systematized, greatly reducing the illiteracy rate of the Korean population. In addition, land reforms aimed at redistributing land to poor tenants also contributed to South Korea's development. Following the normalization of Japan-South Korea relations in the mid-1960s, South Korea received a large amount of Japanese investment, leading to the establishment of, for example, the Posco Steel Group (POSCO). All of this, combined with government monitoring of export performance, has allowed South Korea to achieve rapid, shared economic growth at a relatively low value of income inequality, while ensuring various social benefits such as cheap health insurance. National car production in 1990 was ten times higher than in 1981; the semiconductor industry helped close the technological gap with developed countries. During the same period, gross national income (GNI) per capita jumped from under $1,000 in 1981 to nearly $10,000 in 1995, the lowest unemployment rate since the liberation of Japanese imperialism. The consumption of household electronic products such as color TVs and refrigerators has also risen sharply with the improvement of living standards. In just 50 years, South Korea has risen from a devastated battleground to one of the world's sixth-largest trading nations and one of the strongest economies today.
Urbanization and Global Reputation
The special city of Seoul rose from the ashes of war and continued to grow, becoming a world-class metropolis in less than half a century. Seoul had only nine districts with a population of one million in 1949, but it has gradually expanded, especially urbanizing rapidly in the context of the "Three Lows" (low interest rates, low oil prices, and low exchange rate against the dollar) in the 1980s. By 1980, Seoul had 13 districts and a population of more than 8 million. In addition, Seoul experienced a "golden age of sports" in the context of the Fifth Republic's sports promotion policy. The city went all out to prepare for the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympics. The Seoul Olympics, the largest event on record, is also known for its curation that brings together Eastern and Western civilizations. Through the Olympics, South Korea successfully promoted its "Miracle of the Han River" to the world. Today's Seoul covers an area of 268.35 square kilometers and is an international metropolis with a population of 10 million and 25 autonomous regions.
Korea Today
After nearly a hundred years of ups and downs, South Korea has become one of the most important trade and economic contributors in the world, and its prosperous and mature democratic system has also become a model for other countries' institutional reforms. Even so, South Korea today still faces many important domestic and foreign issues to be considered.
In terms of foreign policy, the biggest challenge facing South Korea must be the prosperity, stability, and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Despite North Korea's top leader Kim Jong-un's commitment to denuclearize the Korean peninsula at the 2018 inter-Korean summit, the North's military's nuclear tests, including those of medium- and long-range ballistic missiles, have not decreased in recent years. South Korea and the international community have felt a stronger nuclear threat; the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula is equally challenging due to the differences between the North and South systems and the extreme imbalance in social and economic development.
In addition to inter-Korean relations, as contemporary Sino-US relations become increasingly unstable, South Korea is also exploring its role in the Sino-US confrontation: On the one hand, South Korea and the United States are historically close allies: both belong to the democratic camp, During the Cold War, South Korea and the United States cooperated in various aspects, successfully restraining the expansion of the Soviet Communist Party; the economic and population exchanges between the two countries were also very frequent. On the other hand, South Korea's economic development cannot be separated from China: in 2021, the bilateral trade volume between China and South Korea will exceed 360 billion US dollars, which is close to the total trade volume between South Korea and the United States, Japan and Europe. China has been South Korea's largest trading partner for 18 consecutive years, and China and South Korea are extremely similar in terms of language, culture, and folk customs. From this point of view, South Korea will continue to compete between China and the United States. He played the role of what he called a "peacemaker".
In addition to foreign policy, South Korea’s domestic society also faces many uncertainties, such as political polarization and extremism, power abuse by chaebols, overcrowding in urban areas, high unemployment, and per capita income inequality. These problems require the firm determination and unremitting efforts of successive Korean governments to solve them.
South Korea-Taiwan Relations
After the Establishment of Diplomatic Ties Between China and South Korea
Writer Ruan Hong said in her book "China-South Korea Hijacking Diplomacy" that if the hijacking incident was the turning point of the gradual alienation between South Korea and Taiwan, it was also the starting point of the gradual convergence between China and South Korea. This negative incident dramatically opened the long-closed communication channel between the two neighbors.
From May 13 to June 20, 1992, after three rounds of negotiations, China and South Korea finally reached an agreement that South Korea must break off diplomatic relations with and Taiwan and formally established diplomatic ties. "Breaking off diplomatic ties", "abolishing the treaty" and "withdrawing the embassy" with Taiwan are the three diplomatic principles that China cannot give in to. At first, Seoul only wanted to downgrade the “Republic of China Embassy” to a "liaison office", which led to the failure of the first round of negotiations. In the second round, Seoul agreed to cut ties but wanted to maintain semi-official ties with Taiwan, with access to telegraph codes and diplomacy, but Beijing did not respond to its demands. Finally, in the third round, Seoul was willing to strictly abide by the three principles of China’s diplomacy. South Korea and Taiwan formally cut off diplomatic ties.
South Korea was the only one of Taiwan's "diplomatic Allies" to have a permanent ambassador in Taipei. After the severance of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Taiwan, the building of the “Republic of China Embassy” in South Korea was handed over to the People's Republic of China, which worsened South Korea-Taiwan relations. South Korea apologized to Taiwan on September 15, 1992, but said it would not adopt the name "Republic of China" for the sake of maintaining diplomatic relations with China. Since then, South Korea basically continued the foreign policy of balancing between the United States and People’s Republic of China, and rarely communicated with the Taiwanese authority.
（图片及部分素材取自：大韩民国历史博物馆展厅、韩国宪法法院展馆、韩国统一部文化交流中心等）
资料来源：
曹玮，战略信誉与韩国的安全政策选择，清华大学出版社期刊中心， 2020年5月。http://qjip.tsinghuajournals.com/article/2020/2096-1545/101393D-2020-3-102.shtml
王金志，互有戒备：美日韩同盟貌合神离，中国国防报，2022年4月26日。
http://www.xinhuanet.com/mil/2022-04/26/c_1211640979.htm
国际先驱导报，1983年卓长仁劫机案：戏剧性开辟中韩外交通道，2009年09月15。
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/sd/2009-09-15/175018656141_2.shtml
宋成有等. 《中韩关系史-现代卷. 北京: 社会科学出版社. 2014.
On May 6, 1983, the People’s Daily published a brief but shocking news: “This morning, a Chinese civil airliner was hijacked by a group of armed terrorist and was forced to lant at Chuncheon Military Airport near Seoul, South Korea at 13:10.” All Chinese people’s attention focused on the 105 passengers on board, not only because of worrying about their safety, but also because the landing marked an ice break between China and South Korea (ROK) at a time when two countries barely had any contact.
After committing crimes in the mainland, in order to evade legal punishments, 6 armed criminals led by Zhuo Changren hijacked China Civil Aviation Flight 296 from Shenyang to Shanghai, wounded the pilot and operator with pistols, and forced the plane to divert to South Korea. Shanghai. China and South Korea had been hostile to each other since 1950s and barely had any contact. When the hijacking incident occurred, China and South Korea did not even set up embassies in each other countries. Instead, Taiwan established the “Republic of China Embassy in South Korea.” When South Korea tried to properly handle the six arrested hijackers in accordance with the Hague Convention, the Taiwanese authority issued a statement calling the hijacking an “anti-Communist defection for freedom” and advocating a misdemeanor. The six hijackers also requested the South Korean government to extradite them to Taiwan.
Beijing fell into entanglement: how could South Korea, a longtime foe of China that maintains “diplomatic relations” with Taiwan, be persuaded to return victims and criminals to China? Unexpectedly, South Korea showed great kindness to China and invited China to send senior foreign Ministry representatives to Seoul. Obviously, South Korea was eager to get out of the dilemma of diplomatic isolation and hoped to formally engage with China. Chinese passengers and crew were accommodated to live in the most luxurious Sheraton hotel in Seoul. South Korea not only provided these mainland Chinese guests with high quality Chinese, Korean and Japanese dishes, but also arranged for them to have a tour in Seoul, climb the Namsan Tower, and visit the Samsung factory. The Chinese delegation was warmly welcomed with a red carpet at Kimpo Airport in Seoul and accommodated to stay at the Shila Hotel.
After rounds of negotiations and consultations, the Chinese side, at the insistence of the South Korean side, agreed to sign the memorandum of understanding (MOU) in the name of the People's Republic of China instead of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), and the South Korean side would also use the name Republic of Korea. The two sides finally held a ceremony for signing and exchanging the MOU on May 9 at the Shilla Hotel. In the afternoon, the Chinese delegation returned to the China with the passengers and crew. The six hijackers were eventually left to stand trial in South Korea and were only sentenced to four to eight years in prison due to the interference of the Taiwanese authority. However, Zhuo Changren and Jiang Hongjun committed kidnapping and murder after settling in Taiwan and were executed by shooting at Tucheng Detention Center in Taiwan.
Relations between China and South Korea gradually warmed up after the hijacking incident was resolved. In 1900, South Korea participated in the Beijing Asian Games to express support for China. China then supported South Korea's bid to join the United Nations. South Korea also invited China to the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympic Games it held. People-to-people and cultural exchanges and economic cooperation between the two sides profoundly increased. Finally, in August 1992, China, which opened to the world, and South Korea, which adopted the “Northern Policy” to begin communications with socialist countries, formally established diplomatic relations.
Korea's History and Today
Witness of the Cold War
In 1948, North Korea formed the People's Army with the help of the Soviet Union, when South Korea's army was half the size of North Korea's. June 25, 1950, a rainy Sunday. At 4:00 p.m., North Korea opened fire to the south at all points along the 38th parallel. Although South Korean soldiers fought bravely against Soviet T-34 tanks, they could only protect Seoul for 3 days. The Korean War begins.
The United Nations, which deemed the North Korean invasion an illegal act, convened an urgent Security Council meeting to pass a resolution calling on member states to provide military assistance to South Korea. On July 5, 1950, the United Nations Expeditionary Force entered and participated in the Battle of Osan. In August, South Korean troops were forced to return to the Nakdong River, handing over control of most of the territory to North Korea. While preventing a full-scale invasion, the Inchon landing operation began on September 15, 1950. South Korea recaptured Seoul on September 28 and turned the tide of the war. Although the south pushed back across the 38th parallel (October 1) and advanced to the Tumen (Yalu River) River, their actions were regarded as a threat by the Mao Zedong authorities, which led to the intervention of the Chinese Volunteers. This forced South Korea to re-abandon Seoul the following January.
While blocking the advance of the Chinese-North Korean coalition along the central line, the South Korean military, together with the United Nations, laid the steppingstone for a counterattack. They recaptured Seoul on March 15, 1951 and recaptured the area near the 38th parallel at the end of March. Due to the lack of progress in the war, China gradually lost interest in fighting and proposed a ceasefire to the United States through the Soviet Union on June 20. protocol. The Korean War truce negotiations began on July 10, 1951, with the demarcation of permanent military borders, the establishment of neutral state oversight, and the exchange of prisoners of war. Negotiations took two years, but reaching an agreement was not easy. During this period, the two sides fought 9 fierce battles along the 38th parallel, with heavy casualties. On July 27, 1953, the United States, North Korea and China signed an armistice that ended the war but failed to bring about permanent peace. The agreement delimits the 2km north-south border of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Panmunjom Joint Security Area (JSA). Unfortunately, the South Korean government, also involved in the war, failed to appear at the negotiating table. In the past three years of war, South Korea suffered heavy losses. A total of 29,557 soldiers were killed in combat, 4,184 died in non-combat, 92,934 were injured in action, and 7,245 soldiers became prisoners of war.
"Korean Spring" - Korean Politics and Democracy Movement
The democratization movement that began in the 1960s laid the foundation for Korea's contemporary democratic system. In 1960, South Korean President Syngman Rhee attempted to seize power twice and advocated constitutional revision, while suppressing the opposition and trying to manipulate the presidential and vice-presidential elections that year. After the incident came to light, students and residents took to the streets to protest, demanding open and transparent elections. However, the government organized the police to open fire on the protesters, igniting the April 19 revolution that eventually overthrew Syngman Rhee's dictatorship. The new government, led by Vice President Zhang Mian, pledged to guarantee the people's basic rights, supported freedom of speech, peaceful reunification, and laid out an economic development plan. The voices that were suppressed by the Li government in the past can now be heard everywhere.
Another massive democratization movement took place in Gwangju in 1980. After the Yushin System established by Park Chung-hee's military government was banned, people were looking forward to the arrival of "Seoul Spring". However, shortly after Park's assassination, Chun Doo-hwan secretly planned a new military force to stage a military coup and take control of the entire country. In May 1980, they expanded martial law, banning all political activities. When the people of Gwangju rebelled and continued their democratization drive, they were brutally suppressed by the entire government. The Chun Doo-hwan government had strengthened social control through social purification projects. Student protested the government's crackdown continued, and democratization forces launched a campaign calling for changes to the constitution to allow direct presidential elections.
Constitution Improvements
South Korea's constitutional revision also reflects its democratization process. After the April 19th Revolution, the Third Amendment to the Constitution was promulgated in 1960, further limiting the power of the government. The Fourth Amendment soon established the foundations of the contemporary constitution, while at the same time penalizing those behind the 1960 election fraud and those responsible for the mass casualties of protesters. Over time, people's fundamental rights are further guaranteed by law. The Fifth and Sixth Amendments define and limit the powers and term of office of the President. Relying on the blood and sweat of democratic strugglers in the June democratic struggle, the Ninth Amendment, promulgated in 1987, further guaranteed the people's right to vote by adopting a presidential election system based on direct universal suffrage, and also established the Constitutional Court of Korea (as pictured above). After the unremitting efforts of the people in the 1940s, South Korea has finally successfully transformed from an autocratic country in the military government era into a mature democracy, letting the Korean people became the master of the country.
“The Miracle on the Han River”
Back in the 1960s, the Park Chung-hee government began to drive economic growth through its five-year economic development plan. Since 1964, South Korea has implemented an export-oriented, market-friendly industrial policy to increase exports of labor-intensive industries such as clothing. Thanks to $13 billion in U.S. financial support, basic education has been broadened and systematized, greatly reducing the illiteracy rate of the Korean population. In addition, land reforms aimed at redistributing land to poor tenants also contributed to South Korea's development. Following the normalization of Japan-South Korea relations in the mid-1960s, South Korea received a large amount of Japanese investment, leading to the establishment of, for example, the Posco Steel Group (POSCO). All of this, combined with government monitoring of export performance, has allowed South Korea to achieve rapid, shared economic growth at a relatively low value of income inequality, while ensuring various social benefits such as cheap health insurance. National car production in 1990 was ten times higher than in 1981; the semiconductor industry helped close the technological gap with developed countries. During the same period, gross national income (GNI) per capita jumped from under $1,000 in 1981 to nearly $10,000 in 1995, the lowest unemployment rate since the liberation of Japanese imperialism. The consumption of household electronic products such as color TVs and refrigerators has also risen sharply with the improvement of living standards. In just 50 years, South Korea has risen from a devastated battleground to one of the world's sixth-largest trading nations and one of the strongest economies today.
Urbanization and Global Reputation
The special city of Seoul rose from the ashes of war and continued to grow, becoming a world-class metropolis in less than half a century. Seoul had only nine districts with a population of one million in 1949, but it has gradually expanded, especially urbanizing rapidly in the context of the "Three Lows" (low interest rates, low oil prices, and low exchange rate against the dollar) in the 1980s. By 1980, Seoul had 13 districts and a population of more than 8 million. In addition, Seoul experienced a "golden age of sports" in the context of the Fifth Republic's sports promotion policy. The city went all out to prepare for the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympics. The Seoul Olympics, the largest event on record, is also known for its curation that brings together Eastern and Western civilizations. Through the Olympics, South Korea successfully promoted its "Miracle of the Han River" to the world. Today's Seoul covers an area of 268.35 square kilometers and is an international metropolis with a population of 10 million and 25 autonomous regions.
Korea Today
After nearly a hundred years of ups and downs, South Korea has become one of the most important trade and economic contributors in the world, and its prosperous and mature democratic system has also become a model for other countries' institutional reforms. Even so, South Korea today still faces many important domestic and foreign issues to be considered.
In terms of foreign policy, the biggest challenge facing South Korea must be the prosperity, stability, and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Despite North Korea's top leader Kim Jong-un's commitment to denuclearize the Korean peninsula at the 2018 inter-Korean summit, the North's military's nuclear tests, including those of medium- and long-range ballistic missiles, have not decreased in recent years. South Korea and the international community have felt a stronger nuclear threat; the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula is equally challenging due to the differences between the North and South systems and the extreme imbalance in social and economic development.
In addition to inter-Korean relations, as contemporary Sino-US relations become increasingly unstable, South Korea is also exploring its role in the Sino-US confrontation: On the one hand, South Korea and the United States are historically close allies: both belong to the democratic camp, During the Cold War, South Korea and the United States cooperated in various aspects, successfully restraining the expansion of the Soviet Communist Party; the economic and population exchanges between the two countries were also very frequent. On the other hand, South Korea's economic development cannot be separated from China: in 2021, the bilateral trade volume between China and South Korea will exceed 360 billion US dollars, which is close to the total trade volume between South Korea and the United States, Japan and Europe. China has been South Korea's largest trading partner for 18 consecutive years, and China and South Korea are extremely similar in terms of language, culture, and folk customs. From this point of view, South Korea will continue to compete between China and the United States. He played the role of what he called a "peacemaker".
In addition to foreign policy, South Korea’s domestic society also faces many uncertainties, such as political polarization and extremism, power abuse by chaebols, overcrowding in urban areas, high unemployment, and per capita income inequality. These problems require the firm determination and unremitting efforts of successive Korean governments to solve them.
South Korea-Taiwan Relations
After the Establishment of Diplomatic Ties Between China and South Korea
Writer Ruan Hong said in her book "China-South Korea Hijacking Diplomacy" that if the hijacking incident was the turning point of the gradual alienation between South Korea and Taiwan, it was also the starting point of the gradual convergence between China and South Korea. This negative incident dramatically opened the long-closed communication channel between the two neighbors.
From May 13 to June 20, 1992, after three rounds of negotiations, China and South Korea finally reached an agreement that South Korea must break off diplomatic relations with and Taiwan and formally established diplomatic ties. "Breaking off diplomatic ties", "abolishing the treaty" and "withdrawing the embassy" with Taiwan are the three diplomatic principles that China cannot give in to. At first, Seoul only wanted to downgrade the “Republic of China Embassy” to a "liaison office", which led to the failure of the first round of negotiations. In the second round, Seoul agreed to cut ties but wanted to maintain semi-official ties with Taiwan, with access to telegraph codes and diplomacy, but Beijing did not respond to its demands. Finally, in the third round, Seoul was willing to strictly abide by the three principles of China’s diplomacy. South Korea and Taiwan formally cut off diplomatic ties.
South Korea was the only one of Taiwan's "diplomatic Allies" to have a permanent ambassador in Taipei. After the severance of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Taiwan, the building of the “Republic of China Embassy” in South Korea was handed over to the People's Republic of China, which worsened South Korea-Taiwan relations. South Korea apologized to Taiwan on September 15, 1992, but said it would not adopt the name "Republic of China" for the sake of maintaining diplomatic relations with China. Since then, South Korea basically continued the foreign policy of balancing between the United States and People’s Republic of China, and rarely communicated with the Taiwanese authority.
（图片及部分素材取自：大韩民国历史博物馆展厅、韩国宪法法院展馆、韩国统一部文化交流中心等）
资料来源：
曹玮，战略信誉与韩国的安全政策选择，清华大学出版社期刊中心， 2020年5月。http://qjip.tsinghuajournals.com/article/2020/2096-1545/101393D-2020-3-102.shtml
王金志，互有戒备：美日韩同盟貌合神离，中国国防报，2022年4月26日。
http://www.xinhuanet.com/mil/2022-04/26/c_1211640979.htm
国际先驱导报，1983年卓长仁劫机案：戏剧性开辟中韩外交通道，2009年09月15。
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/sd/2009-09-15/175018656141_2.shtml
宋成有等. 《中韩关系史-现代卷. 北京: 社会科学出版社. 2014.