Effects of Trade Relations on South Korean Views of China

Abstract

Trade between China and South Korea has increased since the early 1990s, with South Korea becoming more and more economically dependent on China. At the same time, many regard China as a security threat to South Korea. This study investigates whether South Koreans view China positively or as a future threat within the context of this relationship. This article applies the Stolper–Samuelson theorem to test the proposition that individual South Koreans who benefit from trade with China view China positively, while those who do not benefit view it negatively. Using ordered logit models to analyze two survey data sources—the 2006 Public Opinion Survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Asia Society, and East Asia Institute, and the 2010 Asian Barometer Survey—the study concludes that South Koreans with high incomes, who are likely to be beneficiaries, are more likely to view China positively than those with low incomes.

Stereotype contents, emotions, and public attitudes: How do Chinese people stereotype nations and national groups?

“…On the individual level, the influential factors on attitudes toward countries include demographics and socioeconomic status (e.g., Forgas and O'Driscoll, 1984;Gong and Nagayoshi, 2019), social values (e.g., Bernardo et al, 2013), and cross-cultural experiences (e.g., Carlson and Widaman, 1988). On the state level, public attitudes are associated with macroeconomic situations (e.g., Chung, 2015;Fordham and Kleinberg, 2011;Miller and Taylor, 2017), mass media (e.g., Brewer et al, 2003;Huang et al, 2021;Perry, 1990), and bilateral relationships, including economic, political, and military threats (e.g., Chung, 2017;Gong and Nagayoshi, 2019;Jin et al, 2021;Jung and Jeong, 2016). However, few studies have explored cognitive mechanisms of the formation of favorable or unfavorable public attitudes toward different countries.…”

The Determinants of China-ROK Relations, 1993–2018: An Empirical Analysis Using Event Data

“…However, 71.9% of Koreans viewed China's economic rise as a threat in 2014, an increase from 40.8% in 2006 (JH Chung and J Kim, 2016: 132). Also, particularly those Koreans whose economic interests were damaged by the China-ROK trade were more likely to have a negative perception of China (A Chung, 2015). However, it seems that the ROK government does not yet fully embrace the negative attitudes toward China espoused by some Koreans.…”