South Koreans: China Greatest Threat to Peace, More than North Korea

A survey from Seoul National University published on Tuesday found South Koreans view China as a greater threat to peace on the peninsula than North Korea. It was the first time in the 11-year history of the survey that China passed North Korea as the biggest obstacle to peace.

The survey by the university’s Institute for Peace and Unification Studies found 46 percent of respondents see China as the “most threatening country to peace on the Korean peninsula,” followed by 33 percent who named North Korea.

The South China Morning Post noted that, in 2016, only 17 percent of respondents named China as the greatest threat, while 64 percent picked North Korea as recently as last year.

On the question of reunifying North and South Korea, the survey found 91 percent of South Koreans believe China is opposed to reunification. 90 percent think Japan is opposed, 88 percent said Russia, and 53 percent believe the U.S. is opposed.

South Koreans would generally prefer to stay out of the trade war between the United States and China, but those who wish to become more involved heavily favor the United States. 53 percent wish to remain neutral, 39 percent said South Korea should improve relations with Washington, and only 8 percent wanted to take Beijing’s side.

The pollsters speculated public anger over Chinese economic retaliation for the deployment of the American THAAD missile defense system in South Korea brought China’s poll numbers crashing down. South Koreans are also said to be apprehensive about China’s regional ambitions, its aggressive territorial claims, and its massive Belt and Road infrastructure plan.

Conversely, public perception of North Korea has improved greatly due to the current diplomatic opening and the upbeat summit meetings between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

South Koreans apparently like U.S. President Donald Trump more than the populace of most other nations. A Pew Reseach Center poll published on Monday found that Trump generally had lower approval ratings in other countries than either Russian President Vladimir Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping, but South Korean confidence in Trump’s leadership shot up from 17 percent to 44 percent this year, and South Korea’s positive view of the United States improved from 75 percent to 80 percent.