"Testing North Korean Waters"

As China (photo), the U.S. and South Korea engage in more military exercises in the Yellow Sea (West Sea) and as Washington implement further sanctions against North Korea, there are also talks of possible resumptions of six-party talks, as hinted during Kim Jong-il's meeting with Hu Jintao in China.

Unusually, two op-ed articles on Korea appeared in The New York Times on the same day on Aug. 31: neocon Paul Wofowitz's article "In Korea, a Model for Iraq," comparing US troops' role and legacy to that of South Korea appeared in the US edition, and Donald Gregg's piece "Testing North Korean Waters," explaining Cheonan incident and the need for engagement policy was featured in the global edition only.

It is interesting what Gregg had to say: "South Korea has not officially referred to the Russian conclusions [its own investigation of the Cheonan report]. When I asked a well-placed Russian friend why the report has not been made public, he replied, 'Because it would do much political damage to President Lee Myung-bak and would embarrass President Obama.'" Looks like the controversy over the Cheonan incident findings will not go away easily.

China-South Korea Frictions on Joint Ventures

When U.S. companies dominated foreign company landscape in South Korea in the 80s, frictions sometimes arose between Korean workers and American management. The case of Pico, where an American boss fled Korea without paying back pay for his Korean workers, comes to mind. Now, as China has become South Korea's number one trading partner, frictions between Koreans and Chinese are surfacing, as indicated in this article in The New York Times about the Ssangyong auto company, with odd mixture of Chinese capital, labor unrest and technology transfer. [The photo from Reuters shows workers at Ssangyong protesting.]

Mao Anying: The Son of Mao Killed in the Korean War

Many perished in the Korean War. Of many foreign forces that fought in the conflict, the Chinese incurred the most casualties (150,000 to 400,000). Among them was Mao Anying, the eldest son of Mao Zedong, who died in combat in North Korea. To Koreans in the South, he was among countless, faceless Chinese soldiers who comprised the Chinese People's Volunteer Army that intervened in the war as the U.N. forces under U.S. command marched towards the Korea-China border. A Korean blogger (in Korean) highlighted Ma Anying's story and found photos of him (the photo above shows Mao Anying and his wife, married one year before he was killed). His mother was killed by the Kuomintang in 1930. Mao Anying is buried in North Korea.

South Korea is China's Least Favorite Neighbor?

According to a recent survey in China, South Korea is considered as China's least favorite neighbor, surpassing Japan as China's most unpopular neighbor. Perhaps this is due to lingering ideological differences or China's close alliance with North Korea, but this public opinion seems odd since China and ROK have improved relations drastically since the normalization in 1992. Trade between the two countries has expanded rapidly as South Korea is now China's fourth largest trading partner and China has surpassed the US as South Korea's largest trading partner. Perhaps the Chinese people see South Korea as an economic competitor? Looks like the South Korean government and businesses need to expand their public relations efforts in China.

On the other hand, South Koreans on a recent survey ranked overwhelmingly the US first (no surprise there) and China as second as their favorite neighbor.

[Photo: The recent opening ceremony to celebrate the reconstruction of the Korean provisional government (during Japanese colonialism) building in Hangzhou, China, suggests warmer official relations between the two countries.]

North Korea-China Economic Cooperation On the Rise

A news of $10 billion fund to be started by North Korean investment group and Chinese development bank to fund infrastructure projects in North Korea was denied by the Chinese authorities. Nevertheless, this clearly shows interest in potential economic peace dividends arising out of the inter-Korea summit and the movement towards peaceful settlement in Korea. China is currently number one trading partner of North Korea and will likely to pursue more trade with the DPRK. American and Japanese businesses, hindered by political restraints on North Korea policy at home, will lose out to South Korean, Chinese and European ventures.

Photo: A bridge links China to North Korea over the Amnok (Yalu) River.
Related link: The China-North Korea Relationship