| China and Korean Peninsula have shared a history of intimate yet complex relations spanning several decades. Those relations has changed drastically from the traditional tributary relations to China's alliance relations with North Korea during the Cold War era and then to China's two Korea policy. Especially since the Korean War in 1950, China became one of the major powers deeply involved in the Korean issue. Both the US and China has demonstrated with their participation in the Korean War that they have vital interests in maintaining their influences on the Korean Peninsula .Thus it is no wonder that Sino-American relations made some significant impacts on the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. This paper addressed to the question why China and the US changed its previous posture to the Korean issue and what lessons can be learned from their participation in the War. In addition to the Korean War, 2 more events such as the 1970s Sino-US detente, the Sino-US conflict in the early of 1990s, and the Sino-US cooperative relations are introduced in order to explore the impacts of Sino-US relations on the inter-Korea relations. Ever since the Chinese participation in the Korean War of 1950-1953, China reappeared as one of the four great power such as the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan and China that have been involved in the Korean issue directly or indirectly since the modern years. Among those four powers the United States and China were militarily clashed in the Korean War, and thus it was Sino-American relations that made implicit or manifest impacts on the two Koreas. Whatever motivations they had in their involvement in the Korean War, both China and the US came to recognize the fact that their minimum goal is to prevent any single power from dominating all Korea, while their maximum goal to establish its dominant influence in Korea. In fact, during the process of the Korean War, both the US and China have attempted to realize their maximum goal by expanding their military campaigns across the 38th parallel line. It was only after their frustration of their military campaigns that both the US and China agreed with the truce. As a result of Korean War, the Cold War confrontation structure was firmly established in Korea between the Soviet Union- China-North Korea alliance system and the US-Japan-South Korean alliance system. And the Korean War again confirmed the fact that there could be a war in case of one power attempting to destroy the balance of power and establish its hegemonic posture in Korea. The Chinese -US detente in early of 1970s was the result of China's perception that the American influence in East Asia were declining while the Soviet Union's threat to China was rapidly increasing. Under this condition, Henry Kissinger's dramatic secret trip to China in 1971 and the Nixon's visit to Beijing was an epoch-making development that formally ended the 22 years of severe Sino-US antagonism following the Korean War, and anticipated a new phase of the fundamental framework for East Asian international relations. In fact, there was some naive expectation that the Sino-American rapprochement might bring about "the new era of negotiation rather than confrontation" through mutual self-restraint among powers in East Asia. In order to relieve North and South Korean anxiety and suspicion created by the Sino-US rapprochement, both the PRC and the US made it clear in the Shanghai Communique that they strongly support their allies. In fact, both China and the US came to agree with each other that peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula could be maintained on the basis of the peaceful coexistence of the two Koreas and cross-recognition by the four powers. It took a few more years, however, not only China and the US but also for North and South Korean authorities to agree to the peaceful coexistence of the two Koreas. and at the same time when South Korea came to realize the danger and burden coming from the collapse of North Korea. In other words, the prospect for...
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